MMrMfM 


MAY     2    19B3     . 
'^fOtOGICAl 

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THE  v,Ar     2    1S83 


ruLPiTAND  Few 


OR 


Preacher  and  People. 


T.  C.  BLAKE,  D.D. 


"  Make  full  proof  of  thy  ministry. " — 2  Tim.  iv.  5. 
"  The  people  had  a  mind  to  ivork." — Neh.  iv.  6. 


Nashville,  Tenn.  : 
B3    CEDAR    STREET. 

1882. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1881, 

By  T.  C.  BLAKE, 
in  the  Office  of  tlie  Librarian  of  Congress  at  Washington. 


Printed  for  the  Anthor  by  the 

CUMBERLAND   PRESBYTERIAN    PUBLISHING    HOUSE, 
NASHVILLE,    TEXN. 


TO 

The  Ministry  and  Membership  of  the  Church 

OF  OUR  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ, 

"OF  whom   the   whole   family   in 

heaven  and  earth  is  named," 

this  little  volume  is  3I0ST 

respectfully  and 

affectionately 

dedicated 

by 

THE   AUTHOE. 


PREFA^CE. 


The  author  feels,  and  has  so  felt  for  many  years,  that 
there  is  a  place  in  religious  literature  for  a  small  work 
setting  forth,  as  briefly  as  possible,  the  requisite  qualifi- 
cations and  the  mutual  relations  and  obligations  of  the 
ministry  and  laity.  Not  one  of  the  denominations  of 
Christendom,  so  far  as  the  writer  is  aware,  has  ever  pub- 
lished a  work  covering  the  ground  designed  to  be  occu- 
pied by  this  little  book;  and  feeling,  as  he  does,  that 
such  a  work  is  one  of  the  great  wants  of  the  age,  the 
author  is  encouraged  to  make  the  effort  to  meet  the  ne- 
cessity. 

As  will  be  seen  on  a  previous  page,  this  unpretending 
little  volume  is  dedicated  to  the  ministry  and  member- 
ship of  "the  Church  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus 
Christ;"  thereby  embracing  all  Christendom.  This  is 
done,  not  to  conceal  from  the  reader  the  predilections  of 
the  author  for  his  own  denomination — the  Cumheiiand 
Presbyterian  Church — but  because  there  is  nothing  in  this 
book  of  a  sectarian  charaQter — nothing  to  prevent  so 
comprehensive  a  dedication.  And,  because  of  this  fact, 
the  author  trusts  and  believes  that  hundreds  and  thou- 
sands outside  of  his  Christian  fold  will  read  this  book 
with  interest  and  profit. 

In  presuming  to  counsel  his  brethren,  more  especially 
those  in  the  ministry,  no  one  not  in  a  like  situation  can 
even  imagine  the  embarrassment  which  the  author  feels. 
He  is  reluctant  (and  no  one  but  himself  knows  how 

(^■) 


VI  I'REFACE. 

much  so)  to  assume  to  give  advice  to  his  brethren  con- 
cerning a  profession,  in  the  discharge  of  the  duties  of 
which  he  is  compelled  to  acknowledge  and  deplore  per- 
sonal shortcomings  and  inefficiency.  So  far  as  he  is  con- 
cerned, the  author  acknowledges  himself  to  be  "less 
than  the  least"  of  his  brethren  in  ministerial  fidelity; 
and  instead  of  censuring  he  would  prefer  to  kneel  with 
the  most  inefficient  of  them  at  the  Master's  feet,  and 
there,  with  them,  confess  unfaithfulness,  and  ask  to  be 
forgiven  for  the  derelictions  of  the  past.  He  is  fully 
aware  that  his  proper  position,  both  in  experience  and 
efficiency,  is  greatly  below  many  who  are  thus  con- 
strained to  listen  to  him ;  and  it  would  be  a  matter  of 
the  most  painful  regret  if  he  were  understood  to  claim 
any  pretensions  to  a  standard  of  zeal  and  efficiency 
above  the  most  humble  of  his  brethren.  The  author 
has  not  attempted  in  these  pages  to  describe  what  he  is, 
but  what  he  ought  to  be ;  nor  has  he  overlooked  that 
scriptural  admonition,  "Thou  that  teachest  another, 
teachest  thou  not  thyself?" 

As  to  the  success  of  this  important  undertaking,  an 
impartial  public  must  decide.  Should  this  little  volume, 
however,  add  to  the  usefulness  and  efficiency  of  the 
ministry  and  laity  of  the  Church  of  our  common  Lord 
and  INIaster,  then  the  highest  purpose  and  ambition  of 
the  author,  in  this  particular,  will  most  certainly  have 
been  accomplished. 

T.  C.  BLAKE. 

Naskville,  Tenn.,  1S82. 


EXPLANATORY  NOTE. 


In  preparing  this  little  volume,  I  have 
availed  myself  of  all  the  "helps"  within  my 
reach — have  not  only  freely  used  the  ideas  of 
others,  hut  often  their  very  words.  The  work 
is  intended  for  all  evangelical  Christians;  and, 
whenever  it  was  thought  hest  to  do  so,  I  have 
not  hesitated  to  appropriate  any  material 
which,  in  my  judgment,  would  add  to  the 
interest  and  usefulness  of  the  hook.  In  hrief, 
it  is  the  result  not  only  of  my  own  hest 
thoughts  on  the  points  discussed,  hut  likewise 
of  the  hest  gleanings  which  I  have  heen  able 
to  obtain  from  others  on  these  several  topics. 
The  only  apology  offered  for  writing  it  is 
an  honest  conviction  that  such  a  book  as  I 
have  attempted  to  make  is  greatly  needed. 
And,  now  that  the  task  is  completed,  the 
work  is  sent  forth  with  the  sincere  desire  and 
prayer  that  its  usefulness  may  he  commensu- 
rate with  the   field  which   it  is   designed   to 

occupv. 

T.  C.  B. 
(vii) 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS, 


PART  I.— THE  MINISTRY. 

PAGE. 

I.  The  qualifications  and  duties  which  are  es- 
sential TO  A  SUCCESSFUL  MINISTER  OF  THE 
GOSPEL 12 

1.  He  must  be  a  converted  man — a  man  of 

deep,  undoubted  piety 13 

2.  He  must  have  a  Divine  call  to  the  work 21 

3.  He  must  be  a  student — must  qualify  himself 

intellectually  for  his  great  work 34 

4.  He  must  have  a  kind  and  fraternal  spirit — 

must  have  no    jealousy  or  ill-will  toward 
his  brethren  in  the  ministry 45 

5.  He  must  possess  dignity  of  character — must 

be  a  Christian  gentleman 55 

6.  He  must  be  a  man  of  fervent,  persevering 

prayer ; 62 

7.  He  must  be  a  man  of  earnestness  and  zeal 69 

8.  He  should  be  a  man  of  great  firmness — a 

man  of  decision  of  character 75 

9.  He    must  visit  his  flock — must    "mix   and 

mingle"  with  his  people 83 

10. 'He  should  be  a  man  of  great  prudence 95 

11.  He  must  indoctrinate  his  people 102 

(ix) 


TABLE    OF    CONTENTS. 

PAGE. 

12.  He  must  preach  the  gospel— nothing  but 
the  gospel 100 

13.  He  must  be  consecrated  to  his  work 120        ' 


PART  II.— THE  MEMBERSHIP. 

11.  The  qualifications  and  duties  which  are  es- 
sential TO   AN   EFFICIENT   CHURCH-MEMBERSIIIP...    132 

1.  Regeneration,  or  the  "new-birth" 132 

2.  They  must  have  the  gospel — the  means  of 

grace 139 

3.  They  must  attend  the  sanctuary 146 

4.  They  must  be   circumspect  in   their  walk — 

must  be  consistent  Christians 154 

5.  They  must  live  in  peace  and  unity 164 

6.  They  must  read  the  literature  of  the  Church — 

must    be    well-informed    as    to    doctrines, 
polity,  etc 172 

7.  They  must  scrupulously  guard  the  good  name 

and  reputation  of  their  minister 181 

8.  They  must  be  liberal  in  their  contributions  to 

the  cause  of  religion 189 

9.  They  must  be  earnest  and  zealous  in  their 

lives 203 

10.  They  must  pray  for  their  minister,  and  must 

co-operate  with  him  in  Church-work 211 

11.  They  must  cultivate  household  piety— family 

religion  218 

12.  They  must  engage  in  Sabbath-school  work — 

must  labor  for  the  conversion  of  the  young..  225 

13.  They  must  support  their  minister  pecuniarily 

— must  enable  those  who  "preach  the  gos- 
pel to  live  of  the  gospel" 234 

14.  They  must  disseminate  the  religion  whii;h 

they  profess— must  have  a  missionary  spirit.  261 


THE  Pli LP IT-THE  PREACHER 


THE 


PULPIT  AND  PEW 


Preacher  and   People. 


PART  I.-THE  MINISTRY. 


Man  is  a  religions  being.  He  ivill  worship.  It  is 
just  as  natural  for  him  to  do  so  as  it  is  for  him  to 
seek  water  to  slake  his  thirst,  or  bread  to  satisfy 
his  hunger.  Whence  this  disposition  to  worship 
originates,  can,  we  believe,  be  accounted  for  in 
one  way  only — God  created  him  with  that  desire. 
It  is  not  meant  by  this  assertion  that  man  has  a 
natural  desire  to  worship  the  true  God,  but 
that  he  will  worship  something.  The  history  of 
the  entire  human  race,  so  far  as  we  know,  con- 
firms the  position  assumed;  for  no  nation  or  tribe, 
however  degraded  and  ignorant,  has  ever  been 
found  which  had  not  a  religion  of  some  kind. 
That  this  is  a  fact  no  intelligent  man  will  contro- 
vert  or   deny.     The   great    infidel    Hume   said: 

(11) 


12  PULl'IT   AND    PEW 

''Look  out  for  a  people  entirely  void  of  religion; 
and  if  you  find  them  at  all,  be  assured  that  they 
are  but  a  few  degrees  removed  from  the  brutes." 
But  neither  Mr.  Hume  nor  any  one  else  ever 
found  a  people  without  a  religion. 

In  connection  with  the  foregoing,  another  as- 
sertion may  be  made  which  is  equally  general 
and  equally  true:  no  nation  or  tribe  has  ever 
been  found  which  had  not  its  religious  teachers. 
Every  altar  that  has  ever  been  erected  has  had 
its  priest — a  man  who,  as  it  were,  stood  between 
the  object  worshij^ed  and  the  people  worshiping. 
The  truth  is,  no  religion,  not  even  the  Christian^ 
has  ever  been  successfully  and  extensively  propa- 
gated without  such  a  class  of  men.  Many,  if  not 
most,  of  the  false  religions  have  called  to  their 
aid  the  sword,  the  faggot,  and  the  dungeon ;  but 
these  instruments  of  terror  and  of  death  simply 
overaAved  the  people  and  held  them  in  subjection 
until  the  teachers  of  their  religions  could,  by 
their  "  incantations,"  inculcate  their  dogmas. 

Having  made  these  preliminary  remarks,  we 
are  now  prepared  to  consider  the  following  propo- 
sition : 

I  — THE  QUALIFICATIONS  AND  DUTIES  WHICH  ARE 
ESSENTIAL  TO  A  SUCCESSFUL  MINISTER  OF  THE 
GOSPEL. 

The  great  duty  of  the  Christian  ministry  is  to 
preach.     It  is  made  so  by  the  terms  of  the  Com 
mission   itself:    "  Go  ye  into  all   the  world,  and 


PULPIT   AND    PEW.  13 

preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature."     But,  as  the 
sacred  poet  has  well  said, 

"'Tis  not  a  cause  of  small  import 
The  pastor's  care  demands." 

To  be  a  successful  minister,  therefore,  there  are 
certain  qualifications  which  he  must  possess,  and 
certain  duties  which  he  must  perform. 

1.  He  must  he  a  converted  man — a  man  of  deep, 
undoubted  piety. 

The  Bible  justly  insists  that  a  minister  should 
be  holy — in  a  peculiar  sense  a  man  of  God — a 
man  taught  of  Grod — a  man  consecrated  to  God. 
(See  Titus  i.  8 ;  ii.  7 ;  2  Cor.  vi.  4-6  ;  1  Tim.  iv.  12.) 
Indeed,  the  work  which  he  is  called  upon  to  per- 
form would  clearly  indicate  the  same  thing.  His 
is  a  ministry  of  reconciliation ;  hence,  he  must  be 
a  friend  of  the  parties  which  are  at  variance — 
God  and  man.  A  mere  external  reformation  is 
not  sufiicient.  The  change  demanded  is  a  moral, 
universal,  spiritual  change ;  a  change  of  the  prin- 
ciples, of  the  mind,  of  the  heart,  of  the  conduct, 
and  of  the  life,  by  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
Without  this  "  new  birth "  his  ministrations 
would  be  as  "  a  sounding  brass  or  a  tinkling 
cymbal."  Yea,  he  would  be  in  the  predicament 
of  a  blind  man  endeavoring  to  discourse  upon  the 
beauties  of  light,  or  of  a  deaf  man  laboring  to 
make  others  understand  the  symphonies  and 
harmonies  of  music. 


14  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

Indeed,  all  religions,  fixlse  as  well  as  true,  have 
required  their  sacred  office  to  be  tilled  with  the 
best  of  human  beings.  "  The  first  man,"  says  the 
Veda,  or  sacred  book  of  the  Brahmins,  "after 
his  creation,  said  to  God,  '  There  will  be  on  earth 
a  variety  of  occupations,  and  every  man  will  not 
be  fit  for  all ;  how,  then,  are  men  to  be  distin- 
guished?' God  answered  him  saying,  'They  who 
are  the  purest  are  always  to  be  Brahmins,  or  min- 
isters of  religion;  let  the  rest  be  what  they  will.' " 
"He  who  exhorts  men  to  repentance,"  says  the 
Sadda,  or  sacred  book  of  the  Magi,  "should  be 
without  sin.  He  should  be  of  a  kind  temper, 
with  a  soul  susce]3tible  of  friendship ;  and  his 
heart  and  his  tongue  should  always  agree.  He  is 
to  keep  himself  from  all  debauchery,  from  all  in- 
justice, and  from  all  sin  of  every  kind.  He 
should  be  a  pattern  of  goodness  and  justice  to 
the  people  of  God."  In  the  Greek  and  Eoman 
religions,  in  like  manner,  the  last  and  great  in- 
junction given  to  all  who  were  initiated  into  the 
sacred  mysteries,  was,  "  Watch  and  abstain  from 
all  evil."  The  speech  which  an  ancient  tragic 
poet  puts  in  the  mouth  of  one  of  these  teachers 
should  cause  many  a  minister  of  the  gospel  of 
Jesus  Christ  to  blush.  "  Since,"  says  he,  "  I  be- 
came a  priest  of  Idean  Jupiter,  I  have  kept  all 
my  garments  pure  and  spotless ;  and  I  hold  my- 
self above  the  ordinary  converse  and  conduct  of 
men."  "  First  be  trimmed  thyself,  and  then  adorn 
thy    brother,"    say    the    Rabbins.     "The    hand," 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  15 

said  Grregory,  of  Nazianziim,  "  that  purposes  to 
make  another  clean  must  not  itself  be  filthy." 
He  also  said,  "  The  minister  of  the  gospel  must 
first  be  pure,  and  then  purify  others ;  be  taught 
himself,  then  teacli  others;  become  light,  and 
then  enlighten  others ;  draw  near  to  G-od  himself, 
and  then  induce  others  to  approach  him." 

The  world,  however,  is  full  of  counterfeits ; 
and,  unfortunately  for  the  cause  of  our  holy  re- 
ligion, the  Christian  pulpit  is  not  free  from  them. 
Simj)ly  because  a  man  may  be  a  minister,  is  by 
no  means  positive  evidence  that  he  is  a  converted 
man;  for,  in  every  age  of  the  Church,  ungodly 
men  have  not  only  as2>ired  to  but  actually  en- 
tered the  sacred  ofiice.  The  deepest  wounds,  too, 
which  the  religion  of  the  Bible  has  ever  received, 
or  ever  can  receive,  have  been,  and  are,  those  in- 
flicted by  unconverted  ministers.  How  sadly,  for 
instance,  did  the  Jewish  Church  suffer  when  such 
characters  as  Hophni  and  Phinehas  officiated  at 
the  altar!  It  w^as  an  unconverted  minister  that 
betrayed  the  Lord  of  Clory,  and  from  that  period 
down  to  the  present,  as  ecclesiastical  history 
proves,  the  Church  has  been  compelled  to  mourn 
the  fact  that  some  of  the  "vilest  of  men  have  oc- 
casionally been  found  in  the  sacred  profession." 
In  addition  to  the  appalling  fact  just  announced, 
it  is  likewise  true  that  even  sincere  men  — men  who 
thought  that  they  were  converted — have  entered 
the  ministry,  and  have  essayed  to  j)reach  a  salva- 
tion of  which  they  were,  at  the  time,  experiment- 


16  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

ally  ignorant.  As  proof  of  this,  read  the  Life  of 
Wesley,  of  Chalmers,  of  McGready,  and  of  scores 
of  others,  who  had  the  candor  and  courage  to 
confess  the  fact;  but  who,  by  a  godly  repentance, 
became  deeply  pious,  and  arose  to  the  position  of 
<'  sons  of  thunder  "  in  the  ministry. 

With  these  facts  before  us,  it  could  not  be  con- 
sidered either  extravagant  or  unkind  to  assert 
that  there  are  now  hundreds — yea,  thousands — 
in  the  ministry,  among  the  various  denomina- 
tions of  Christendom,  who  are  not  converted. 
Horrible  thought !  Yet,  with  the  Bible  and  eccle- 
siastical history  in  our  hands,  we  must  believe  the 
fact,  however  revolting  to  our  hearts.  Because 
of  this,  the  great  Baxter,  in  his  "Eeformed 
Pastor,"  says  :  "  Take  heed  to  yourselves  lest  you 
should  be  void  of  that  saving  grace  of  God  which 
you  oifer  to  others,  and  be  strangers  to  the  effect- 
ual working  of  that  gospel  which  you  preach; 
and  lest,  while  you  proclaim  the  necessity  of  a 
Saviour  to  the  world,  your  hearts  should  neglect 
him,  and  you  should  miss  of  an  interest  in  him 
and  his  saving  benefits.  Take  heed  to  yourselves, 
lest  you  perish  while  you  call  upon  others  to  take 
heed  of  perishing,  and  lest  you  famish  yourselves 
while  you  prepare  their  food.  Though  there  be 
a  promise  of  shining  as  stars  to  those  that  turn 
many  to  righteousness  (Dan.  xii.  3),  this  is  but  on 
supposition  that  they  be  first  turned  to  it  them- 
selves. Many  a  preacher  is  now  in  hell  that  hath 
an  hundred  times  called  upon  his  hearers  to  use 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  17 

the  utmost  care  and  diligence  to  escape  it.  Can 
any  reasonable  man  imagine  that  God  should  save 
men  for  offering  salvation  to  others  while  they 
refused  it  themselves;  and  for  telling  others 
those  truths  which  they  themselves  neglected 
and  abused?  Many  a  tailor  goes  in  rags  that 
maketh  costly  clothes  for  others;  and  many  a 
cook  scarce  licks  his  fingers  when  he  hath  dressed 
for  others  the  most  costly  dishes.  Believe  it, 
brethren,  God  never  saved  any  man  for  being  a 
preacher,  nor  because  he  was  an  able  preacher ; 
but  because  he  was  a  justified,  sanctified  man, 
and,  consequently,  faithful  in  his  Master's  Avork. 
Take  heed,  therefore,  to  yourselves  first,  that  you 
be  what  you  persuade  others  to  be,  and  believe 
that  which  you  persuade  them  daily  to  believe, 
and  have  heartily  entertained  that  Christ  and 
Spirit  which  you  offer  unto  others.  He  that  bade 
you  love  your  neighbors  as  yourselves,  did  imply 
that  you  should  love  yourselves,  and  not  hate  and 
destroy  both  yourselves  and  them." 

The  foregoing  paragraph,  with  its  solemn  and 
weighty  admonitions  and  warnings,  should  be  in- 
delibly impressed  upon  the  heart  of  every  minis- 
ter of  the  gospel.  Holiness  is  an  indispensable 
prerequisite  in  a  preacher's  life.  Without  it  his 
labor,  as  a  spiritual  guide,  is  lost.  Like  those  on 
whom  Moses  pronounces  a  part  of  his  curse,  he 
sows,  but  shall  not  reap;  he  waters  without  see- 
ing the  increase.  His  words,  like  arrows  shot 
from  a  bow  which  has  no  elasticity,  fall  short  of 
2 


18  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

the  mark.  The  coldness  of  his  heart  freezes  the 
language  of  his  lips;  and  he  cannot  possibly 
kindle  in  the  bosom  of  others  that  love  to  God 
and  zeal  for  his  service  which  have  no  existence 
in  his  own  life.  Unhappy  the  people  to  whom 
God  may  permit  such  a  man  to  minister !  They 
can  neither  be  aroused  by  his  sermons  nor  guided 
by  his  example.  Unhappy,  too — yea,  indescrib- 
ably miserable — the  minister  who  becomes  thus 
the  tempter  and  destroyer  of  those  whom  he 
might  be  instrumental  in  saving !  His  superior 
knowledge  only  serves  to  ag^^avate  his  condem- 
nation. He  bears  the  torch,  yet  he  himself  knows 
not  the  way.  Like  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees  of 
old,  he  neither  goes  into  heaven  himself,  nor 
suffers  them  that  are  entering  to  go  in.  Instead 
of  being  a  star  of  Bethlehem  to  guide  and  lead 
his  hearers  to  Jesus,  he  is  a  stone  of  stumbling 
over  which  they  will  plunge  into  the  vortex  of 
despair.  Yea,  such  a  minister  is  a  greater  curse 
to  his  flock  than  fiimine,  pestilence,  or  sword. 

The  great  John  Stoughton,  in  his  treatise  en- 
titled "  The  Preacher's  Dignity  and  Duty,"  thus 
speaks  upon  the  necessity  of  ministerial  holiness 
of  life:  "  If  Uzzah  must  die  but  for  touching  tlie 
ark  of  God,  and  that  to  stay  it  when  it  was  like 
to  fall;  if  the  men  of  Beth-shemesh  for  looking 
into  it;  if  the  very  beasts  that  do  but  come 
near  the  holy  mount  be  threatened;  then  what 
manner  of  persons  ought  they  to  be  who  shall  be 
admitted  to  talk  Avith  God  familiarly,  to  ^  stand 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  19 

before  bim,'  as  tbe  angels  do,  and  '  bebold  bis"  face 
continually';  'to  bear  tbe  ark  upon  tbeir  sboul- 
ders,'  'to  bear  bis  name  before  tbe  Grentiles*;  in  a 
word,  to  be  bis  ambassadors?"  Tbe  melancboly 
bistory  of  tbe  sons  of  Eli  sbows  clearly  tbat  tbere 
is  scarcely  any  punisbment  adequate  to  tbe 
crimes  of  ungodly  ministers.  And  if  Gfod  tbus 
punisbed  tbe  profaners  of  tbe  blood  of  bulls  and 
goats,  wbat  will  be  do,  ratber  wbat  will  be  not  do? 
to  tbe  profaners  of  tbe  blood  of  bis  own  Son? 

Tbe  proposition  is  tberefore  repeated  witb  em- 
pbasis,  tbat  a  minister  of  tbe  gospel  must  be  a 
man  of  piety — of  deep,  undoubted  piety.  It  is 
not  enough  tbat  be  sbould  be  equal,  in  tbis 
respect,  to  ordinarj^  Cbristians.  God  and  men. 
and  witb  good  reason,  too,  require  tbat  be  sbould 
be  a  representative,  a  typical  Cbristian.  To  bim 
tbe  people  come  to  drink  as  to  a  spring;  bence, 
tbere  sbould  be  in  bim  an  abounding  spiritual 
fountain.  His  time  and  talents  are  consecrated 
to  religion,  and  it  is  pre-eminently  bis  business  to 
be  boly.  And  to  excite  bim  to  tbis  boliness  of 
life  be  must  look  not  to  tbe  world  around  bim, 
but  to  angels  and  to  G-od.  He  must  look  to  tbe 
bigbest  precepts  of  tbe  gospel,  and  be  must  copj' 
tbe  Higb  Priest  of  iiis  profession.  He  must  tbink 
bow  tbe  apostles  and  otber  faitbful  preacbers 
lived;  and  be  must  tbink,  too,  bow  departed 
ministers  would  live  if  tbey  were  permitted  to 
return  and  act  tbeir  part  again  in  tbe  great 
drama  of  human    life.     Let   tbe   minister,  then, 


20  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

be  an  example  to  his  flock  and  a  guide  to  his 
people.  The  preacher  and  the  man  must  be  one. 
His  heart  must  be  a  transcript  of  his  sermons, 
then  will  he  be  a  chosen  vessel  to  preach  Christ 
to  a  dying  world.  It  is  not  reasonable  to  suppose 
that  he  can  inspire  a  love  for  that  holiness  of  lifie 
to  which  he  is  an  utter  stranger.  If  he  would 
ascend  to  the  hill  of  the  Lord,  or  dwell  within 
his  holy  place,  he  must  have  clean  hands  and  a 
pure  heart.  Like  the  brightness  of  Goshen 
amidst  the  obscurity  of  Egypt,  his  life  must  be 
"a  shining  light,"  to  dispel  the  ignorance  and 
darkness  of  this  sin-cursed  earth.  In  a  word,  his 
piety,  like  the  virtue  of  Caesar's  wife,  must  be 
above  suspicion.  Under  the  Old  Dispensation,  no 
person  who  had  any  blemish  was  to  offer  the 
oblations  to  the  Lord.  (See  Lev.  xxi.  17-20.) 
The  priest  was  to  have  in  his  robes  bells  and 
pomegranates;  the  one  a  figure  of  sound  doctrine, 
and  the  other  of  a  fruitful  life.  (See  Exod.  xxviii. 
33,  34.)  And  in  the  saered  ministry  the  voice  of 
Jacob  will  do  but  little  good  if  the  hands  be  the 
hands  of  Esau.  Mere  orthodoxy  will  not  save  a 
minister  of  the  gospel.  He  may  go  to  perdition 
with  a  Confession  of  Faith  or  Discipline  in  each 
pocket.  The  forms  of  religion  are  only  the  scaf- 
folding for  erecting  the  spiritual  edifice.  The 
reason  given  why  "  much  people  was  added  unto 
the  Lord"  under  the  preaching  of  Barnabas,  was 
that  "  lie  was  a  good  man,  and  full  of  the  Holy 
Ghost."     (See  Acts  xi.  24.)     The  minister  of  the 


I 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  21 

gospel  is  unlike  all  other  instructors.  The  latter 
simply  teach  art  or  science,  without  reference  to 
moral  character.  The  mechanic  may  teach  his 
art  thoroughly,  but  he  may  be  grossly  immoral. 
The  college  professor  may  be  an  excellent  in- 
structor, and  still  be  a  very  bad  man  But  the 
minister  is  necessarily  blended  with  the  truth 
which  he  teaches.  In  other  words,  he  may  ex- 
plain the  doctrines  of  the  Bible  intellectually,  but 
he  cannot  enforce  them  without  a  realization  of 
them  ujjon  his  own  heart. 

2,  He  must  have  a  Divine  call  to  the  work. 

Any  man  who  is  a  Christian  has  a  right  to  rec- 
ommend the  grand  scheme  of  redemption — the 
glorious  plan  of  salvation  through  Christ.  And 
more,  he  not  only  has  the  right,  but  it  is  his  duty 
to  do  so  as  long  as  he  lives.  Indeed,  this  question 
goes  beyond  men,  and  even  includes  the  whole  of 
the  otlier  sex;  for  whether  believers  be  male  or 
female,  they  are  all  bound  to  exert  themselves  to 
their  utmost  to  extend  the  knowledge  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ.  But  while  this  is  true,  it  is  likewise 
a  fact  that  the  official  preaching  of  the  gosj)el — 
"the  teaching  and  bearing  rule  in  the  Church  " — 
is  confined,  by  the  authority  of  God  himself,  to  a 
certain  definite  class — to  a  set  of  men  separated 
from  every  secular  calling,  and  entitled  to  cast 
themselves  for  their  temporal  necessities  upon  the 
Church  of  God.  (See  Heb.  v.  4;  1  Cor.  ix.  11;  1 
Tim.  V.  18.) 


22  rULPlT    AND    PEW. 

As  proof  positive  of  the  necessity  of  a  Divine 
call  to  the  ministry  we  present  the  following  brief 
summary: 

(a)  Such  a  class  is  necessary  to  the  propagation 
of  religion. 

To  say  that  the  Christian  religion  could  not 
have  been  propagated  without  the  agency  of  a 
class  of  men  devoted  to  that  special  service,  would, 
no  doubt,  be  stating  the  case  too  strongly;  'but  to 
assert  that  the  Triune  Grod  has  ever  adopted  that 
method  as  the  principal  one  for  spreading  abroad 
the  religion  of  the  Bible,  would  be  to  utter  a  truth 
which  no  intelligent  person  will  call  in  question. 
Indeed,  such  a  class  of  men  has,  in  all  ages  of  the 
world,  been  considered  a  necessity — yea,  a  want  so 
deeply  imbedded  in  the  bosom  of  man  that  it  was 
a  part  and  parcel  of  his  very  nature.  In  all  his 
dealings  with  the  human  family,  too,  God  has 
ever  recognized  this  fact.  Doubtless  he  might 
have  instructed  as  well  as  converted  Paul  by  a 
miracle;  but  it  was  his  pleasure  to  direct  him  to 
a  fellow-sinner  for  the  explicit  revelation  of  his 
will.  The  angel  also  might  have  been  an  in- 
structor to  Cornelius;  but,  for  the  purpose  of 
maintaining  the  order  of  the  Divine  economy, 
the  ministry  of  the  word  (Peter)  was  made  the 
medium  of  conveying  evangelical  light  to  his 
soul.  lie — some  are  ready  to  say,  perhaps — might 
have  employed  the  unfallen  angels  to  do  this 
work.  But  could  he  have  done  so  in  accordance 
with  the  high  and  holy  principle  of  his  govern 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  23 

ment?  Could  he  (the  question  is  asked  with 
great  reverence)  have  changed  their  location  from 
"the  bright  world  of  bliss"  to  this  "sin-cursed 
world"  of  ours?  Or  could  he,  in  accordance  with 
justice,  require  them  to  associate  with  the  vile 
and  debased?  But  admitting,  for  the  sake  of  ar- 
gument, that  this  could  have  been  done,  would 
these  angels  have  been  the  kind  of  ministry  that 
man  needed?  They  could  not  have  entered  into 
the  sj^mpathies  of  our  fallen  nature;  nor  could 
they  have  told,  by  experience,  of  the  joys  of  par- 
doned sin,  for  the  simple  reason  that  they  were 
strangers  to  such  a  feeling.  Moreover,  they  could 
not  exhibit  themselves  as  an  illustration  of  the 
power  of  the  grace  of  God — could  not  show  what 
grace  could  do  with  the  vilest  sinners. 

If  the  foregoing  be  true,  the  necessity  for  such 
a  class  of  men  is  almost  absolute.  Such  an  order 
of  men  constitutes  one  of  the  essential  elements 
of  the  social  state.  Society  can  no  more  exist 
without  it  than  without  some  form  of  civil 
government.  Men  will  not  consent  to  occupy  a 
place  in  associated  communities  without  the  rec- 
ognized dispensers  of  religious  rites.  Conscience 
demands  them  for  the  living  and  for  the  dead. 
Be  it  but  necromancy,  or  some  strange  form  of 
''black-art"  conjuration,  the  mother  demands 
them  for  her  new-born  babe,  and  the  child  de- 
mands them  at  the  obsequies  of  its  parent.  Hu- 
man wisdom  never  erects  her  temples  so  high 
as   to   be   above   the   tempest.     A  voice   that   is 


24:  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

oracular  must  speak  to  men  in  the  day  of  their 
Calamity,  even  though  the  oracle  be  unheeded  in 
the  elevation  of  their  pride.  A  hand  that  is 
allied  to  what  is  unseen  and  unearthly  is  looked 
for  to  wipe  away  the  tears  from  the  fiace  of  sor- 
row, even  though  it  be  unsought  amid  the  sun- 
shine of  joy,  In  a  word,  man  will  not  only  have 
a  religion,  but  religious  teachers — if  not  a  Mount 
Zion,  an  Olympus,  a  Valhalla,  a  Mecca — some 
system  of  theology  or  theogony,  with  temples, 
priests,  and  liturgies. 

(b)  The  sovereignty  of  God's  gov-ernment  de- 
mands such  a  call. 

Ministers  of  the  gospel  are  Heaven's  ambassa- 
dors; and  every  one  knows  that  the  very  essence 
■of  the  ambassadorial  office  lies  in  the  appoint- 
ment which  is  made  by  the  sovereign  represented. 
An  ambassador  unsent  would  not  only  be  power- 
less, but  he  would  be  highly  reprehensible.  While, 
therefore,  all  earthly  sovereigns  claim  the  privi- 
lege of  selecting  those  who  are  to  represent  them, 
is  it  not  reasonable  to  suppose  that  the  great 
Sovereign  of  the  universe  would  reserve  the  same 
privilege  to  himself?  Earthly  rulers  insist  upon 
the  exercise  of  such  a  prerogative  in  order  that 
the  integrity  of  their  government  may  be  pre- 
served; but  how  much  more  important  that  the 
God  of  heaven  (the  heavenly  Euler)  should  de- 
mand the  same  prerogative?  Is  not  his  govern- 
ment infinitely  more  important  than  any,  yea, 
than  all,  of  the  governments  of  earth?     If  earthly 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  25 

sovereigns,  then,  cannot,  and  will  not,  risk  any 
one  who  may  voluntarily  assume  the  office  of  am- 
bassador, how  can  we  for  a  moment  suppose  that 
the  i^urest  and  best  Sovereign  in  the  universe 
would  permit  such  a  thing?  The  Bible  teaches 
us  that  the  great  Jehovah  is  a  jealous  God,  and 
that  justice  and  judgment  are  the  habitations  of 
his  throne;  hence  he  must,  and  will,  have  an 
agency  in  the  selection  of  those  whose  conduct  is 
not  only  to  affect  the  party  to  whom  they  may  go 
as  ambassadors,  but  likewise  the  government 
which  they  represent.  Men  form  their  opinions 
of  earthly  governments  from  the  character  of  the 
ambassadors  whom  they  send  forth;  and  does  not 
an  All-wise  God  know  that  they  would  do  the 
same  thing  in  reference  to  his  government?  The 
truth  is  (speaking  with  reverence)  God  cannot 
afford  to  intrust  the  interests  of  his  kingdom  to 
self-appointed  and  self-constituted  ambassadors. 
Such  a  thing  would  not  only  bring  his  govern- 
ment into  disrepute,  but  would  dethrone  the  great 
Euler  himself! 

(c)  Such  a  call  is  indispensable  in  order  that 
the  sacred  office  may  be  supplied  with  efficient 
men. 

The  office  of  the  gospel  ministry  is  one  of  toil 
and  sacrifice.  Of  all  the  professions  and  occupa- 
tions of  men  it  is  the  least  lucrative.  No  class  of 
men  on  earth,  when  we  take  into  consideration 
the  intellectual  endowments  which  they  possess, 
and  the  amcunt-of  labor  which  they  perform,  re- 


26  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

ceivcs  sueli  meager  compensation.  To  be  a  suc- 
cessful preacher  a  man  must  turn  his  back  upon 
all  the  avenues  of  wealth,  and  must  be  content 
upon  a  bare  subsistence.  The  lawyer,  the  doctor, 
the  merchant,  the  mechanic,  the  farmer,  the 
banker,  the  tradesman  may  become  vastly 
wealthy  by  following  their  respective  professions 
and  lines  of  business;  but  the  minister  of  the 
gospel,  if  he  is  faithful  to  his  calling,  has  no  such 
incentive.  Many  of  them,  and  we  weep  as  we 
write  the  sentence,  have  no  home  of  their  own — 
like  their  Divine  Master,  they  can  say,  they  "  have 
not  where  to  lay  their  heads,"  except  it  is  fur- 
nished by  others — by  some  kind  family  of 
Bethany!  Like  the  camel  of  the  desert,  though 
they  bear  the  precious  burden,  they  feed  upon 
shrubs ! 

These  things  being  true,  how,  we  ask,  could 
competent  men — men  of  intellect,  and  men  of 
culture — be  induced  to  enter  a  profession  which 
promises  so  little,  so  far  as  this  world  is  concerned? 
No  one  will  doubt  that  the  qualifications  which 
are  necessary  to  a  successful  ministry  would  in- 
sure wealth  and  honor  in  any  of  the  other  pro- 
fessions and  avocations  of  life.  Why,  then,  will 
men  enter  upon  a  calling  which  promises  nothing, 
so  far  as  this  world  is  concerned,  but  arduous  toil 
and  a  meager  support?  There  is  but  one  answer; 
'•  the  love  of  God  constrains  them  " ;  and  they  feel 
like  the  great  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles  when  he 
said,  "Woe  is   me  if  I  preach   not  the  gospel" 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  27 

Remove  this  "constraint"  a,ud  this  "woe,"  and 
how  few  would  enter  the  ministry! 

(d)  The  Scriptures  clearly  teach  the  doctrine 
of  a  Divine  call  to  the  ministry. 

Under  the  Old  Dispensation,  intrusion  into  the 
priestly  office  was  marked  as  the  most  dangerous 
presumption — yea,  was  most  severely  punished. 
(See  Num.  xviii.  7;  2  Chron.  xxvi.  16-20.)  The 
prophets,  too,  claimed  to  hold  commissions  from 
Jehovah.  Isaiah  tells  us  that  one  of  the  seraphim 
touched  his  lips  with  a  live  coal  from  off  the  altar, 
and  the  voice  of  the  Lord  said,  "  Whom  shall  I 
send,  and  who  will  go  for  us?"  Then  said  the 
prophet,  "Here  am  I;  send  me."     (Isa.  vi.  8.) 

Jeremiah  thus  speaks  of  his  call:  "Then  the 
word  of  the  Lord  came  unto  me,  saying,  Before 
I  formed  thee  in  the  belly  I  knew"  thee;  and  before 
thou  earnest  forth  out  of  the  womb  I  sanctified 
thee,  and  I  ordained  thee  a  prophet  unto  the 
nations."     (Jer.  i.  4,  5.) 

Ezekiel,  in  speaking  of  his  authority,  says : 
"And  he  said  unto  me,  Son  of  man,  go,  get  thee" 
unto  the  house  of  Israel,  and  speak  my  words 
unto  them."     (Ezek.  iii.  4.) 

The  same  Divine  authority  was  claimed  by 
Daniel  and  all  the  other  proj^hets.  Not  one  of 
them  dared  to  act  as  God's  official  messenger  un- 
til he  felt  that  he  had  been  commissioned  by  the 
high  court  of  heaven.  Not  one  of  them  ran  be- 
fore he  had  been  specially  visited  by  the  Lord 
and  qualified  for  his  mission.     "How  shall  they 


28  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

preach  except  they  be  sent?"  wei'e  words  which 
as  yet  had  not  been  uttered;  but  their  solemn  im- 
port was  well  understood.  In  brief,  throughout 
the  Old  Testament  Scriptures  the  fact  is  clearly 
and  forcibly  taught  that  God,  in  every  instance, 
exercised  his  sovereignty  in  the  selection  of  indi- 
viduals to  carry  on  his  purposes  of  mercy  toward 
a  fallen  world;  whether  patriarchs,  priests,  proph- 
ets, or  judges.  Besides,  we  have  the  positive 
declarations  of  God  himself  upon  this  subject. 
Says  he,  "  I  will  give  you  pastors  according  to 
mine  heart."  (Jer.  iii.  15.)  Again,  "I  will  set 
up  shepherds  over  tbem  which  shall  feed  them." 
(Jer.  xxiii.  4.)  Still  further,  "I  have  set  watch- 
men upon  thy  walls,  0  Jerusalem,  which  shall 
never  hold  their  j^eace  day  nor  night."  (Isa.  Ixii. 
G.)  And  of  those  w^hom  he  had  not  called,  he 
says,  "  I  have  not  sent  these  prophets,  yet  they 
ran  ;  I  have  not  spoken  to  them,  yet  they  prophe- 
sied. But  if  they  had  stood  in  my  counsel,  and 
had  caused  my  people  to  hear  my  words,  then 
"they  should  have  turned  them  from  their  evil 
way,  and  from  the  evil  of  their  doings.  I  sent 
them  not,  nor  commanded  them ;  therefore  they 
shall  not  profit  this  people  at  all,  saith  the  Lord." 
(Jer.  xxiii.  21,  22,  32.) 

Under  the  New  Dispensation,  the  fact  is  re- 
iterated A  ith  emphasis  that  no  one  should  dare 
usurp  such  unwarranted  authority.  Christ  him- 
self appeared  on  earth  with  a  delegated,  not  with 
a   self-appointed,  commission.      Prophetically,  he 


PULPIT    AND    PEAV.  29 

had  already  declared  his  cnll  to  his  great  work. 
(See  Isa.  xlviii.  16 ;  Ixi.  1.)  This  call,  too,  was 
manifested  to  the  world  at  the  commeDcement,  as 
well  as  during  the  entire  course  of  his  public 
ministry.  (See  Matt.  iii.  16, 17;  John  xii.  28-30.) 
Time  and  again,  too,  did  he  appeal  to  this  call  as 
the  proper — yea,  as  ^the  only^  credentials  of  his 
mission.  (See  John  viii.  16,  42;  v.  43.)  He  not 
only  called  each  one  of  his  apostles  to  the  work 
of  the  ministry,  but  he  denounced  as  "  thieves 
and  robbers"  all  who  "entered  into  the  fold" 
without  his  authority  —  emphatically  declared 
that  he  only  who  "entered  in  by  the  door"  of  his 
commission  "was  the  shej^herd  of  the  sheep." 
(See  John  x.  12.) 

The  truth  is,  the  very  names  given  to  ministers 
in  the  New  Testament  imply  a  previous  call  to 
the  work.  Paul  says,  "  Now  then  we  are  ambassa- 
dors for  God."  But  how  can  there  be  an  ambas- 
sador without  a  jjvevious  appointment?  If  it  is 
said  that  this  is  restricted  to  the  apostles,  we  an- 
swer that  the  Epistle  in  which  the  language  occurs 
is  written  not  in  the  name  of  Paul  only,  but  of 
Timothy  also,  and  hence  included  other  ministry 
besides  the  apostleship.  Moreover,  in  the  First 
Epistle  to  the  Corinthians  we  read:  "Let  a  man 
80  account  of  us  (the  us  here  meaning  Paul  and 
Sosthenes,  1  Cor.  i.  1)  as  of  the  ministers  of 
Christ,  and  stewards  of  the  mysteries  of  God." 
(1  Cor.  iv.  1.)  Surely  no  one  will  doubt  that  a 
steward  must  hold   his  office  by  appointment ;  a 


30  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

self-constituted  one  would  be  a  laughing-stock. 
Ministers  are  likewise  called  angels  (Eev.  ii.  1), 
and  this  word,  as  w^e  all  know,  means  messenger; 
but  how  can  men  be  Christ's  messengers  unless 
by  his  choice  or  election.  They  are  also  called 
^'servants,''  "chosen  vessels,''  " shejjherds,"  "over- 
seers," etc.,  which  appellations  are  meaningless 
when  the  idea  of  choice  is  excluded.  But  Paul, 
speaking  by  the  authority  and  inspiration  of  God, 
forever  settles  this  question  when  he  says,  "No 
man  taketh  this  honor  unto  himself,  but  he  that 
is  called  of  God,  as  Avas  Aaron."  (Ileb.  v.  4.)  In 
tlie  passage  just  quoted,  Paul,  we  admit,  is  speak- 
ing of  the  priestly  office;  but  what  is  true,  in  this 
particular,  of  one  is  likewise  true  of  the  other. 

We  will  not  venture  the  j^ositive  assertion  that 
an  uncalled  minister  never  does  any  good.  God 
7nay  now,  as  he  one  time  did,  by  way  of  miracle, 
bring  a  man  to  life  by  the  bones  of  a  dead 
prophet — may  soinetimes  honor  his  own  word  so 
far  as  to  make  it  eftectual  for  salvation,  even 
when  it  falls  from  the  lips  of  an  uncalled  minister. 
The  message  of  Elisha,  though  conveyed  by 
Gehazi,  cured  the  Sja'ian  general;  and  similar 
results  occurred  in  a  few  other  cases.  But  such 
instruments  may  be  compared  to  those  Tyrians 
who  assisted  Solomon  in  building  that  temple  in 
whose  God  they  had  no  personal  interest,  and  in 
whose  blessings  they  had  no  share.  This,  how- 
ever, is  not  God's  ordinary  method  of  dealing 
with  the  human  race.     It  is  rather  his  "strange 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  31 

work,''  as  one  has  expressed  it;  for  it  is  extremely 
seldom,  taking  the  Bible  as  our  guide,  that  the 
labors  of  uncommissioned  men  are  ever  owned 
by  him,  or  attended  with  any  success.  In  what 
other  way  is  it  possible  to  account  for  the  vast 
difference  in  the  success  of  ministers,  except  upon 
the  idea  that  some  are  called  of  God  and  others  are 
not?  Why  is  it  that  some  who  are  men  of  piety 
and  of  high  culture  never  seem  to  have  any  suc- 
cess, while  others,  who  are  greatly  their  inferiors 
in  natural  endowments  and  in  acquired  gifts,  have 
many  "stars  in  their  crowns  of  rejoicing"? 
There  is.  to  our  mind,  but  one  answer:  The  for- 
mer have  "run  without  being  sent,"  while  the 
latter  are  "shepherds  of  God's  own  choosing." 
No  man,  therefore,  can  claim  the  ministry  as  his 
right — as  his  inheritance — because  his  fathers 
and  his  ancestors,  for  generations  past,  have 
served  the  Church  and  their  God  in  that  capacity. 
No  learning,  no  morality,  no  profession,. no  zeal, 
no  any  thing,  can  supply  the  place  of  a  Divine  call. 
We  cannot  conceive  of  God's  giving  a  revelation 
of  such  vast  import  without  at  the  same  time 
definitely  ordaining  the  best  method  of  making 
it  known.  He  would  not  leave  this  to  loose,  un- 
certain methods.  Indeed,  if  no  regular  Divine 
agency  had  been  appointed  to  publish  the  message 
of  reconciliation  between  God  and  man,  we  would 
certainly  feel  that  God  is  not  in  earnest  in  this,  or 
that  it  is  not  a  true  revelation.  If  there  is  a  mes- 
sage of  peace  from  the  higher  government  to  a 


62  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

rebellious  race,  there  must  also  be  a  permanent 
embassy  of  peace,  established  in  the  foreign 
government  of  an  alienated  world.  The  Lord 
appoints  his  workmen;  and  those  who  go  in 
obedience  to  that  appointment  will  be  owned  and 
honored  of  him.  But  the  minister  who  is  not 
thus  sent,  though  he  may  be  learned,  eloquent, 
and  popular,  will  not  be  blessed  and  honored  of 
Heaven.  The  world  may  apj^rove  him,  but  in  the 
"great  day"  he  will  hear  the  solemn  words,  "I 
never  knew  you"  as  one  of  my  ambassadors. 
Whatever  else  such  a  minister  ma}^  have,  he  lacks 
the  Divine  call;  and  without  this  he  cannot  have 
the  unction  of  the  Holy  One,  the  power  of  the 
Spirit  of  the  Lord  of  Hosts  • 

To  some  the  preaching  of  the  gospel  may  seem 
to  be  a  matter  of  individual  choice — may  suppose 
that  the  ministry  of  God's  word  is  a  trade  to  be 
learned,  a  profession  to  be  chosen,  an  office  to  be 
sought;,  but  such  persQns  "do  greatly  err,  not 
knowing  the  Scriptures  nor  the  power  of  God." 
Would  it  be  "a  light  thing"  for  a  man  to  repre- 
sent himself  as  an  ambassador  of  a  king  who 
never  commissioned  him?  Would  it  be  a  small 
matter  in  business  for  a  man  to  claim  to  be  the 
agent  and  representative  of  a  person  who  had 
never  given  him  authority  or  mentioned  his 
name?  Would  it  be  a  trivial  circumstance  for  a 
man  to  transact  business  and  make  treaties  in 
behalf  of  some  mighty  potentate  who  had  given 
him  no  authority  for  so  doing?     Shall  it,  then,  be 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  33 

deemed  a  small  affair  for  a  man  to  palm  himself 
off  as  an  authorized  servant  of  the  Lord  Almighty 
without  indorsement  or  recognition  from  on 
high? 

As  to  the  evidences  of  this  call,  they  can  be  very 
briefly  given.  The  subject  of  it  not  only  feels  a 
deep  anxiety  for  the  salvation  of  sinners ;  but  he 
likewise  feels  that  there  is  a  personal  responsi- 
bility in  the  matter — a  work  for  Mm  to  do,  which 
no  one  else  can  perform.  True,  his  mind  and 
heart  may  revolt,  and  in  most  instances  they  do, 
at  the  very  thought  of  occupying  so  responsible 
a  position  as  that  of  a  minister  of  the  gospel. 
He  may,  and,  perhaps,  always  does,  try  to  argue 
himself  into  the  belief  that  the  idea  of  his  enter- 
ing upon  the  work  of  the  ministry  is  perfectly 
preposterous — can  assign  a  score  of  reasons  why 
he  should  not  undertake  such  a  thing.  Like 
Moses,  he  pleads,  "O  my  Lord,  I  am  not  eloquent, 
neither  heretofore,  nor  since  thou  hast  spoken  to 
thy  servant:  but  I  am  slow  of  speech,  and  of  a 
slow  tongue."  (Ex.  iv.  10.)  A  thousand  times, 
too,  he  will  say,  as  did  that  same  man  of  God,  "O 
my  Lord,  scud,  I  pray  thee,  by  the  hand  of  him 
by  whom  thou  wilt  send."  (Ex.  iv.  13.)  Yea, 
like  Jonah,  he  may  even  attempt  to  "flee  unto 
Tarshish  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord";  but, 
notwithstanding  all  his  efforts  to  evade  the  re- 
sponsibility, there  is  a  "still,  small  voice"  which 
whispers,  "Go  and  preach  the  preaching  that  I 
bid  thee."     Indeed,  so  reluctant  is  a  man  who  has 


34  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

proper  conceptions  of  the  awful  responsibility  of 
such  ti  work,  and  of  his  own  imperfection — yea, 
nothingness  in  the  sight  of  God — that  he  proposes 
every  possible  compromise  with  his  Maker — will 
pi-omise  almost  any  thing  and  every  thing,  if  God 
will  release  him.  But  no  plan,  no  promise,  no 
any  thing  which  he  may  concoct  for  the  purj)ose 
of  evading  his  duty,  will  give  his  mind  and  heart 
any  relief.  Like  the  great  Apostle  of  the  Gen- 
tiles, he  feels,  "Woe  is  me  if  I  preach  not  the 
gospel."  And  go  where  he  may,  and  do  what  he 
may,  that  "  w^oe"  rests  uj^on  him  until  he  consents 
to  do  the  work  which  God  has  assigned  him.  In 
a  word,  no  one  whom  God  has  called  to  the 
ministry  can  be  a  happy  man  until  be  consents 
to  do  his  duty.  Nor  need  any  one  w^ho  is  thus 
called,  fear  for  one  moment  that  God  Avill  remove 
all  embarrassments  out  of  the  way.  He  does  not 
demand  impossibilities  of  his  creatures;  and  just 
as  surely  as  he  calls  a  man  to  the  ministry,  just 
so  surely  w^ill  he  enable  that  man  to  perform  the 
work  assigned  him,  provided  the  person  called 
will  consent  to  make  the  eifort.  The  blessed 
Saviour  said  to  his  first  ministers,  and  he  says  the 
same  to  each  one  now,  "Lo,  I  am  with  you  alway, 
even  unto  the  end  of  the  world."  (Matt,  xxviii. 
20.) 

3.  He  must  he  a  student — must  qualify  himself  in- 
tellectually for  his  great  work. 

The  first  ministers  of  the  gospel  were  divinely 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  35 

• 

inspireilj  and,  therefore,  the  necessity  did  not  exist 
for  acquiring  knowledge  lay  diligent  application 
to  study.  But  ever  since  Christianity  has  been 
fully  established,  the  case  has  been  otherwise;  for 
God  seldom  or  never  works  by  miracle  when 
ordinary  means  will  serve.  Now,  therefore,  close, 
23ersevering  study  must,  to  a  considerable  extent, 
do  for  the  minister  of  this  day  what  inspiration 
did  for  the  apostles  and  their  immediate  suc- 
cessors. 

It  was  a  saying  of  Demosthenes  that  "  a  man 
should  be  branded  as  the  pest  of  society  and  the 
enemy  of  the  Commonwealth  who  durst  propose 
any  thing  in  public  which  he  had  not  first  consid- 
ered well,  and  pondered  in  private."  But  how 
much  more  presumptuous  is  it  for  a  minister  of  the 
gosjDcl,  in  the  great  work  of  salvation,  to  appear 
before  the  Church,  before  angels,  and  before  God 
himself,  to  speak  upon  the  dread  mysteries  of  re- 
demption, without  having  secured  beforehand  the 
advantages  which  knowledge,  study,  and  prepara- 
tion will  give  him?  Like  his  great  Master,  the 
minister  is  "set  for  the  rise  or  fall  of  many  in 
Israel";  but,  without  proper  qualification,  he  can 
never  meet  the  high  and  holy  obligations  which 
are  upon  him. 

Paul's  advice  to  timothy  was,  ^^  Study  to  show 
thyself  approved  unto  God,  a  workman  that  need- 
eth  not  to  be  ashamed,  rightly  dividing  the  word 
of  truth."  (2  Tim.  ii.  15.)  l^o  one,  surely,  who 
has  a  jiroper  conception  of  the  sacred  office,  can, 


36  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

for  a  moment,  doubt  tliat  the  miuistr}^  of  the 
nineteenth  century  should  profit  by  that  advice. 
Indeed,  with  the  facilities  which  this  age  is  now 
offering  to  the  rising  ministry  for  intellectual  cult- 
ure, no  probationer,  who  has  proj^er  respect  for 
himself  and  for  the  cause  of  his  Master,  can  afford 
to  enter  upon  the  sacred  profession  without  the 
necessary  literary  qualifications.  Men  of  piety 
can  do  good,  even  when  destitute  of  the  high  in- 
tellectual culture  upon  which  we  are  insisting; 
but  the  history  of  the  Church  proves  that,  as  a 
general  thing,  they  have  never  been  able  to  lay 
broad  foundations,  nor  to  raise  well-proportiOncd 
and  firmly-jointed  superstructures.  It  requires 
intellectual  culture,  and  a  high  order  of  it  too,  to 
accomplish  such  work:  as  Luther,  Calvin,  Wesley, 
McCready,  etc.,  performed. 

But  while  we  insist  upon  the  broad  and  exten- 
sive culture  whicli  the  present  age  demands,  yet 
we  would  not  be  understood  as  taking  the  posi- 
tion that  each  and  every  minister  should  have  the 
same  amount  of  learning.  In  other  w^ords.  we  do 
not  contend,  nor  do  we  believe,  that  there  is  a 
Divine  warrant — "a  thus  saith  the  Lord" — for  a 
definite  and  specific  amount  of  human  learning 
as  an  indispensable  jirerequisite — ''a  sine  qua 
non'' — \,o  entering  upon  the*  sacred  profession. 
Indeed,  no  one,  we  think,  can  so  say  with  the 
Bible  in  his  hands,  and  with  the  example  of  the 
blessed  Saviour  before  him  in  selecting  the  first 
ministers  under  the  gospel  dispensation.     True, 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  37 

as  we  have  said,  they  were  divinely  inspired; 
but  that  inspiration,  no  doubt,  had  special  refer- 
ence to  theological  rather  than  to  scientific  truth. 

The  history  of  the  Church  (we  use  the  word 
Church  in  its  broadest  sense,  meaning  all  ortho- 
dox Christendom)  establishes  the  fact  that  some 
of  the  most  powerful  and  successful  ministers  that 
ever  have  adorned,  or  that  now  adorn,  the  pulpit, 
never  enjoyed  the  advantages  of  a  thorough  clas- 
sical and  theological  training.  They  entered  the 
ministry  "against  principalities  and  powers,"  as 
a  distinguished  writer  has  aptly  said,  and  fought 
their  way  to  the  highest  positions.  Language 
cannot  do  them  the  honor  which  they  deserve. 
Grod  bless  them  and  give  them  successors!  The 
lives  of  such  men  demonstrate  the  fact  that  a 
minister  may  be  unable  to  read  the  "classics," 
and  be  wholly  ignorant  of  the  higher  branches 
of  mathematics,  and  still  be,  in  the  true  sense  of 
the  term,  an  educated  man — may  know  how  to 
thi?ik — may  be  able  to  investigate  closely  and  to 
reason  logically — may  be  a  fine  English  scholar, 
and  a  man  of  general  and  extensive  reading — 
yea,  may  be  much  more  efficient  as  a  minister  of 
Jesus  Christ  than  scores  of  those  who  bear  di- 
plomas from  honored  institutions. 

AYhat  Christianity  needs  is  a  ministry  adapted 
to  the  culture  of  the  age.  Society,  like  a  pyramid, 
has  the  largest  amount  of  material  at  the  base. 
It  is  also  a  fact  which  cannot  be  denied,  that  re- 
ligion, like  flame,  kindles  in  an  upward  direction. 


38  rULPlT    AND    PEW. 

Grades  of  society  must  be  set  on  fire  like  layers 
of  wood — at  the  bottom.  The  Jew^s  were  un2:)hil- 
osophical  when  they  asked,  as  a  test  question, 
"Have  any  of  the  Hirers  believed  on  him?"  In- 
deed, to  have  attempted  the  conversion  of  the 
Israelitish  nation  through  the  reigning  family  of 
Herod  and  his  nobles  would  have  been  as  absurd 
as  to  have  attempted  to  warm  the  waters  of  the 
Dead  Sea  by  floating  beacons  upon  its  surface/ 
If  man  had  been  called  upon  to  select  the  minis- 
try for  the  Apostolic  age,  he  would  have  chosen 
the  profoundest  scholars,  the  wisest  philosophers, 
and  the  most  eloquent  orators;  but  Christ,  know- 
ing the  fact  that  religion  develops  upward,  and 
not  downward,  w^ent  to  the  humble  fishermen  of 
Galilee.  Hence,  Avhen  the  infidel  Celsus  said, 
"The  Apostles  were  mean  and  illiterate  persons — 
men  of  sorry  manners  and  fishermen^''  the  great 
Qrigen  retorted,  "Then  it  is  evident  that  their 
power  w^as  from  heaven,  and  their  religion 
Divine." 

While,  therefore,  it  is  right  and  proj^er  for  the 
Church  to  demand  that  the  ministry  shall  be  men 
of  high  culture,  yet  w^e  must  not  forget  that  there 
is  some  danger  of  going  to  too  great  an  extreme. 
It  would  be  a  calamity  if  the  entire  ministry  of 
Christendom  were  educated  out  of  sympathy  with 
the  people.  The  poor  and  the  illiterate,  as  well 
as  the  rich  and  educated,  must  have  the  gospel; 
and  we  all  know  how  difficult  it  is  to  induce  men 
of  hiu'h  culture  to  confine  their  ministrations  to 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  39 

the  "highways  and  hedges."  We  know,  too,  that 
these  same  people  are  "more  at  home  with,"  and 
have  greater  sympathy  for,  those  who  are  not 
educated  out  of  sjmpathy  with  them.  Tiie 
Church  needs,  and  must  have,  many  Pauls,  but 
we  must  not  forget  that  it  needs  Peters  too. 

Let  no  one  for  a  moment  believe  that  we,  by 
the  position  assumed,  are  inveighing  against  the 
'highest  possible  culture  in  the  pulpit,  and  are  en- 
couraging the  neglect  of  it  in  the  sacred  *office. 
Nor  is  it  to  be  understood  that  we,  in  any  degree, 
favor  intellectual  indolence;  on  the  contrary,  we 
boldly  affirm  that  it  is  a  shame  and  a  disgrace  for 
any  man  to  enter  the  pulpit  without  "beaten  oil." 
No  man  can  succeed  as  a  minister  of  the  gospel 
without  close,  ardent,  persevering  study,  nor  is 
he  to  consider  that  he  is  at  all  meeting  his  re- 
sponsibilities, in  this  particular,"  unless  he  is  equal 
to,  if  not  in  advance  of,  those  to  whom  he  minis- 
ters. He  is  a  teacher,  and  unless  he  can  comply 
with  what  that  word  implies,  he  cannot,  as  Paul 
did,  "magnify  his  office."  No  minister  can  sus- 
tain himself  who  is  not  a  student.  He  must  be 
constantly  accumulating  fresh  and  invigorating 
thought,  else  he  will  soon  exhaust  the  stock  on 
hand.  The  people  will  not  submit  to  dry  and 
senseless  platitudes;  nor  will  they,^xcept  under 
protest,  pay  for  services  which  they  believe  have 
cost  neither  time  nor  thought.  The  truth  is,  a 
preacher  who  will  thus  degrade  his  profession 
and  dishonor  his  Master  is  a  fraud,  and  deserves 


40  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

ecclesiastical  indictment,  at  least,  for  obtaining 
money  under  false  pretenses.  Services  in  the 
pulpit  which  cost  nothing  in  their  preparation, 
are  worth  nothing;  and  the  minister  of  Jesus 
Christ  who  attempts  to  get  his  living  by  them  is 
a  cheat,  and  is  unworthy  of  the  confidence  of  his  , 
flock.  The  sermons,  rather  the  ^^  harangues,'' 
which  such  a  minister  delivers  amount  to  nothing. 
Like  bullets,  though  they  may  have  heads,  they 
have  wo  points.  Eobert  Hall  was  once  asked  how 
many  sermons  a  minister  could  prepare  in  a  week. 
His  answer  was,  "This  depends  upon  his  habits 
of  thought  and  study.  If  they  be  first-rate  in 
every  respect,  he  might  produce  one  by  very  hard 
work.  If  they  be  second-rate,  he  can  make  two 
with  moderate  ease.  If  they  be  tenth-rate,  he  can 
make  any  number!" 

The  preacher,  unlike  the  barrister  or  politician, 
addresses  the  same  audience  year  after  j-ear. 
Hence,  he  must  keep  abreast  of  the  age,  if  not  in 
front  of  it.  A  distinguished  writer  says,  "He 
(the  minister)  must  circumnavigate  the  world  of 
thought,  but  he  must  see  to  it  that  his  first  merid- 
ian passes  through  Calvary,  and  adjust  all  to  that 
starting  place."  The  prejudices  against  God's 
message  are  already  so  numerous  that  the  minis- 
ter of  the  go^el  should  do  nothing  to  justify  or 
increase  them;  nor  must  he  omit  any  thing  that 
he  can  do  to  overcome  them.  The  mass  of  the 
people  now  have  the  opportunity  of  a  good  edu- 
cation within  their  reach,  and  many  have  availed, 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  41 

and  will  continue  to  avail,  themselves  of  the  ad- 
vantages afforded.  All  the  important  questions 
of  the  day,  theological  questions  not  excepted, 
are  discussed  in  the  literature  to  which  the  people 
have  access;  and  the  minister  of  the  gospel,  if  he 
would  be  respected,  must  be  so  far  abreast  of  the 
current  of  general  thought  as  to  be  "looked  up 
to"  as  authority  upon  all  these  topics.  If  he  is 
conspicuously  deficient  in  intelligence,  however 
devoted  he  may  be  to  his  legitimate  avocation,  he 
will,  necessarily,  "suffer  loss."  There  is  an  inter- 
course with  capable  and  intelligent  men  to  which 
the  minister  of  the  gospel  is  called,  by  virtue  of 
his  office,  and  he  must  not,  he  canjiot,  afford  to 
shrink  from  it.  It  would  be  an  untold  calamity 
for  the  cause  of  religion  to  have  the  impression 
go  forth  that  uncultured  men  only  filled  the 
sacred  office.  On  the  contrary,  nothing  enhances 
the  cause  of  Christianity  more  than  to  have  its 
pulpits  occupied  by  men  of  vigorous  intellect,  of 
profound  scholarship,  and  of  varied  culture — by 
men  who  are  fitted  to  rule  by  weight  of  character 
and  by  force  of  mind,  while  they  constantly  bow 
in  the  deepest  humiliation  before  the  Cross  of 
Christ. 

There  is  a  certain  parable  which  is  often  told 
to  children,  but  it  contains  a  "moral" — a  pro- 
found one,  too — by  which  the  sacred  ministry  may 
be  greatly  profited.  It  is  this :  A  certain  king 
instructed  his  son  in  the  art  of  governing  men. 
"  The  great  art  of  governing,"  said  he,  "is  to  make 


42  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

the  people  believe  that  the  king  knows  more  than 
his  siibjeets."  "  But  how,"  asked  his  son,  "  shall 
he  make  men  believe  this?"  The  king  answered, 
^^  By  knowing  more.''  Ah,  that  is  the  secret.  The 
only  way  for  a  minister  of  the  gospel  to  be  a 
"leader  and  guide"  to  his  people  is  to  "know 
more"  than  they  know.  John  Wesley  said  to  a 
minister  who  had  neglected  study,  "Your  talent 
in  preaching  does  not  increase;  it  is  just  the 
same  that  it  was  seven  years  ago.  It  is  lively, 
but  not  deep;  there  is  little  variety ;  there  is  no 
compass  of  thought.  Eeading  and  study  only 
can  supply  this." 

Other  things  being  equal,  the  prospects  of  a 
minister  of  the  gospel  for  doing  good  depend 
upon  the  scope  of  his  field — upon  the  "greatest 
many"  to  wdiom  he  can  have  access.  Now,  it  re- 
quires no  argument  to  prove  that  the  most  useful 
and  influential  class  of  society  is  comj)osed  of 
those  w^ho  desire  and  apjDreciate  a  ministry  of 
culture.  Such,  too,  are  the  persons  who  mold 
and  control  public  sentiment  in  the  localities  in 
which  they  live.  Without  the  sympathy  and  co- 
operation of  this  class  a  minister  can  accomplish 
but  little.  He  cannot,  however,  hope  to  have  this 
sympathy  and  co-operation  unless  his  culture  is 
such  as  to  command  respect. 

The  intellectual  preparation,  too,  ui)on  which 
we  are  insisting  is  the  best  for  the  minister  even 
in  a  pecnni((7^y  point  of  view.  The  strong 
Churches — the  Churches  which  are   able  Ijo  pay 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  43 

respectable  salaries  —  almost  universally  turn 
their  backs  upon  those  ministers  who  have  flxiled 
to  make  themselves  workmen  that  "  need  not  to 
be  ashamed."  The  consequence  is,  such  preachers 
have  no  Churches  to  serve,  except  those  which 
financially  are  unable  to  employ  better  ones. 
Who  has  not  seen  just  such  a  state  of  things? 
How  man}'  ministers,  to-day,  are  sulfering  almost 
absolute  want  who  might  have  been  very  differ- 
ently situated  if  they  had  studied  more  and  read 
more!  But  they  have  brought  poverty  upon 
themselves  by  failing  to  make  better  preparation 
for  their  work.  In  native  intellect  many  of  them 
are  greatly  superior  to  hundreds  and  thousands 
of  those  who  are  occupying  strong  and  influential 
pulpits;  but  they  were  unwilling  to  undergo  the 
labors  necessary  to  qualify  them  for  such  posi- 
tions. Just  at  the  time  in  Avhich  they  should 
have  been  engaged  in  study,  they  "married  a 
wife,"  or  "boug*ht  a  yoke  of  oxen,"  or  did  some- 
thing else  which  blasted  their  prospects  for  exten- 
sive ministerial  usefulness.  Esau  like,  at  a  trying 
hour,  they  sold  their  " birth-right" ;  and,  like  him, 
they  could  not,  when  it  was  too  late,  correct  the 
evil,  though  they  may  have  sought  to  do  so  "with 
tears." 

We  do  not  mean,  let  it  be  remembered,  by  these 
urgent  appeals  in  behalf  of  ministerial  culture, 
that  all  ministers  should  be  graduates  from 
literary  and  theological  institutions;  for  inas- 
much as  God,  no  doubt,,  of  ten  calls  men  late  in 


44  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

life  to  the  ministry,  and  men,  too,  of  "many  in- 
cumbrances," such  extensive  preparation  is  sim- 
ply impracticable  in  such  cases.  But  we  do  mean, 
with  the  facilities  which  the  different  denomina- 
tions of  Christendom  are  now  affording  their  pro- 
bationers fol"  the  ministry,  that  many — yea,  the 
great  majority — of  these  probationers  should  avail 
themselves  of  the  liberal  and  extensive  advan- 
tages thus  offered  them,  almost  *' without  money 
and  without  price."  What  we  urge,  and  what  we 
insist  upon,  is  that  the  ministry  of  this  age  shall 
at  least  be  equal,  in  point  of  learning,  to  the  most 
highly  cultured  of  the  people  among  whom  they 
labor.  Until  this  standard  is  reached,  it  is  im- 
possible for  the  ministry  to  accomplish  the  good 
which  it  otherwise  might  do. 

The  Sacred  Scrij^tures,  as  we  interpret  them, 
perfectly  accord  with  the  sentiments  which  we 
have  uttered  upon  this  point.  True,  they  forbid 
dependence  upon  mere  human-  wisdom,  yet 
"knowledge,"  "study,"  etc.,  are  not  only  com- 
mended but  required.  "For  the  priest's  lips 
should  keep  knowledge''  (Mai.  ii.  7.)  ^' Study  to 
show  thyself  approved  unto  God,  a  workman  that 
needeth  not  to  be  ashamed,  rightly  dividing  the 
word  of  truth."  (2  Tim.  ii.  15.)  Christianity, 
then,  is  not  a  religion  of  the  senses  or  of  forms, 
but  of  great  moral  and  intellectual  truths;  and 
the  best^  way  for  a  minister  of  the  gospel  to  ad- 
vance it  is  by  "knowledge"  and  "study."  It  is  a 
fact,  too,  which  has  not  escaped  the  notice  of  the 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  45 

attentive  reader  of  the  New  Testament,  that  our 
blessed  Saviour,  lowlj  as  was  his  home  in  Naza- 
reth, was  never  criticised  by  his  most  inveterate 
enemies  for  his  lack  of  culture  even  as  a  man ;  but, 
on  the  contrary',  his  knowledge  of  "letters"  ex- 
cited the  amazement  of  his  hearers.  (See  John 
vii.  15.) 

In  conclusion  upon  this  topic,  we  feel  authorized 
to  say,  and  this  declaration,  too,  as  we  believe, 
embraces  the  "sum  total"  of  what  the  Bible  and 
Church  history  teach,  viz. :  No  talent  is  too  great, 
no  genius  is  too  brilliant,  no  attainments  are  too 
ample,  for  the  worl^of  preaching  the  gospel;  but, 
thanks  he  to  our  Heavenly  Father^  an  average  ca- 
pacity can  be  trained  into  such  an  instrument  as 
the  Holy  Ghost  will  employ  for  the  "  v/ork  of  the 
ministry,  for  the  edifying  of  the  body  of  Christ," 
and  that,  too,  without  a  thorough  classical  and 
theological  education,  when,  in  the  providence  of 
God,  surrounding  circumstances  preclude  the 
practicability  of  such  training. 

4.  He  must  have  a  kind  and  fraternal  spirit — must 
have  no  jealousy  or  ill-will  toward  his  brethren  in  the 
ministry. 

A  minister  of  the  gospel  is  not  sent  into  the 
world  to  be  a  hermit,  or  a  monk.  A  man  who  is 
to  deal  with  the  human  family  almost  indiscrim- 
inately, must  love  them,  and  feel  at  home  with 
them.  A  minister  who  has  no  geniality  about 
him  had  better  be  a  funeral  undertaker,  and  bury 


46  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

the  dead,  for  he  will  never  succeed  with  the  living. 
A  j^reacher,  as  one  has  said,  "to  be  successful, 
should  have  a  warm,  capacious  heart" — a  heart 
like  the  great  harbors  which  indent  our  coast,  and 
which  contain  sea-room  for  a  whole  fleet.  To 
such  a  man  the  people  will  go  as  sailors  to  a 
haven,  and  thej  will  feel  safe  when  they  have 
anchored  under  the  lee  of  his  friendship. 

When  the  Queen  of  Sheba  w^ent  to  test  the 
wisdom  of  Solomon,  the  Rabbins  tell  us  that  she 
carried  some  artificial  flowers  with  her,  beautifully 
wrought  and  delicately  scented,  so  as  to  be  fac- 
similes of  real  ones.  The  wi'se  man  directed  his 
servants  to  open  the  window,  and  when  the  bees 
came  in  they  flew  at  once  to  the  natural  flowers. 
Now,  people  have  their  instincts  as  well  as  bees; 
and,  like  them,  they  know  what  they^need.  It  is 
an  old^  but  true,  saying  that  there  are  more  flies 
caught  with  honey  than  with  vinegar;  and  there 
will  be  more  souls  led'to  heaven  by  a  man  who 
has  a  kind  and  genial  face  than  by  one  who  has 
neither  a  gentle  look  nor  a  winning  smile.  The 
fact  is,  a  minister  is  likely  to  get  what  he  gives. 
People's  hearts  are  like  whispering  galleries  to  him. 
If  he  speaks  softly  and  kindly,  just  such  words 
return  to  him;  but  if  he  scolds,  he  is  sure  to  be 
scolded.  Says  Christ  himself,  "For  with  what 
judgment  ye  judge,  jq  shall  be  judged;  and  with 
what  measure  ye  mete,  it  shall  be  measured  to  3^ou 
again."     (Matt.  vii.  1.) 

Natural  temper  has  much  to  do  with  a  minister's 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  47 

usefulness.  God  bestows  a  great  gift  upon  a 
preacher  when  he  gives  him  a  sunny  face  and  a 
genial,  loving  heart.  It  is  a  pleasure  just  to  look 
at  such  ministers.  We  may  differ  with  them  on 
many  things  as  far  as  the  poles  are  asunder,  yet 
we  are  none  the  less  drawn  toward  and  fascinated 
by  them.  But  there  are  those  in  the  ministry,  we 
are  sorry  to  say,  who  have  not  this  genial  nature. 
The  very  expressions  of  their  countenances  are 
forbidding;  and  their  words,  when  they  speak  at 
all,  are  sarcastic  and  withering.  The}'  are  carica- 
tures of  religion.  They  forget  that  a  man  is  not 
always  good  in  proportion  as  he  groans  and 
frowns,  and  that  one's  Christian  stature  is  not  in 
proportion  to  the  length  of  his  face.  There  is  un- 
told power  for  good  or  evil  even  in  the  tone  of  the 
voice.  Words  not  only  exert  an  influence  upon 
those  who  hear  them,  by 'the  manner  in  which 
they  are  uttered,  but  they  reveal  the  character  of 
those  who  use  them.  Socrates  once  said  to  a  man, 
"  Speak,  that  1  may  see  you."  The  tones  and  the 
very  "  make-up "  of  the  language  reveal  charac- 
ter— yea,  show  the  inner  man  just  as  completely 
as  mirrors  reveal  the  objects  placed  before 
them. 

Xot  only  do  we  find  these  unholy  tem2:)ers  in- 
dulged in  by  some  ministers  toward  the  world, 
but  toward  each  other.  There  are  ministers — not 
a  great  many,  thank  God — whose  ambition  is  far 
in  advance  of  their  ability.  They  "love  the 
u2:>permost    seats"    in    the    ecclesiastical   "  syna- 


48  PULPIT   AND   PEW. 

gogues"  to  which  they  belong;  and,  often,  the 
method  which  they  adopt  for  obtaining  them  is 
b}^  trying  to  dispLace  those  w^ho,  by  almost  uni- 
versal consent,  are  w^orthy  to  occupy  them.  To 
accomplish  their  j)urposes  they  will  sometimes 
condescend  to  things  which  would  be  disreputable 
to  a  fifth-rate  politician.  No  suitable  opportunity 
is  lost  by  them  to  "thrust  the  dagger/'  when  by 
so  doing  they  can  reasonably  hope  to  accomplish 
their  ends,  provided  they  see  that  there  is  no  dan- 
ger of  detection  or  exposure.  Such  men,  of  course, 
are  moral  cowards;  hence,  like  all  others  "whose 
ways  are  dark  and  whose  deeds  are  vile,"  they  do 
nothing  of  this  kind  openly.     But, 

"With  eye  of  lynx,  and  ear  of  stag, 
And  footfall  like  the  snow," 

they  "creep  and  cringe"  in  their  work  of  defa- 
mation. Such  men,  like  Judas  Iscariot,  "betray 
Avith  a  kiss;"  and  they  would,  if  they  could,  sell, 
for  less  than  "thirty  pieces  of  silver,"  any  minis- 
terial brother  whose  popularity  and  position  they 
envy.  It  is  often  the  case  that  such  characters 
run  "quite  a  course"  before  they  arc  found  out; 
but  sooner  or  later  they  are,  by  almost  universal 
consent,  consigned  to  their  "proper  place"  in  the 
denomination  to  Avhich  they  belong.  A  mark  as 
visible  as  that  of  Cain  is  upon  them,  and  it  is  not 
a  difficult  matter  to  ascertain  when  one  is  in  the 
presence  of  such  characters.  They  know  much, 
and  can  give  the  "history"  of  ever}'  minister  in 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  49 

the  Church  who  is  at  all  in  their  "sunshine";  and 
they  lose  no  good  opportunity  in  doing  so  if  they 
can  get  a  listening  audience.  \Yhenever,  there- 
fore, one  is  in  the  presence  of  a  preacher  who 
spends  the  "hours  of  social  converse"  in  defam- 
ing his  brother  or  brethren  in  the  ministry,  it 
should  be  considered  an  invariable  sign  that  the 
spirit  of  a  betrayer  is  present.  Why  such  men 
should  thus  do  is  a  mystery.  Ey  striving  to  make 
themselves  "the  greatest  in  the  kingdom,"  they 
are  attempting  an  utter  impossibility.  The  frog 
in  the  fable  conceived  the  idea  that  he  ought  to 
be  as  large  as  the  ox,  and  in  his  efforts  to  "swell 
himself"  up  to  such  dimensions  he  "burst"! 
Now,  the  fatal  mistake  which  the  frog  made  was, 
he  aspired  to  something  for  which  God  never  in- 
tended him.  If  he  had  been  content  to  fill  the 
sphere  for  which  he  was  created,  such  a  terrible 
calamity  would  not  have  befallen  him.  So  with 
the  class  of  ministers  of  whom  we  are  speaking. 
The  error  which  they  commit  is,  they  strive  for 
positions  for  which  they  were  not  created,  and 
they  ought  to  know  that  in  so  doing  there  is  but 
one  legitimate  result — they  will  "burst"! 

Closely  allied  to  the  evil  of  which  we  have  just 
been  speaking  there  is  another  which  is  more 
general,  and,  if  possible,  more  detestable.  We 
allude  to  the  habit  which  some  ministers  have 
formed  of  trying  to  secure  the  fields  of  labor 
which  others  occuj)y.  There  are  various  methods 
resorted  to  by  these  "  disturbers  of  the  peace  of 
4 


50  PgLPIT  AND   PEW. 

Zion" — these  ecclesiastical  moles — for  the  accom- 
plishment of  their  purposes. 

One  is  to  "underbid"  the  present  occupant. 
Such  a  minister  will  talk  to  the  membership  and 
"endeavor  to  create  the  impression  that  the  salary 
which  they  are  paying  their  minister  is  not  only 
large  but  oppressive.  He  then  manages  to  get  an 
opportunity  of  preaching  a  few  times  to  that 
people,  taking  care  to  deliver  his  very  best  ser- 
mons; and,  before  leaving  the  neighborhood,  he 
makes  it  known  that  his  services  might  be  secured, 
and  for  a  very  moderate  salary,  "provided  the 
present  incumbent  were  out  of  the  wa}^,"  and 
provided,  also,  that  such  an  arrangement  could  be 
made  "agreeable  to  all  parties."  As  a  general 
thing  this  is  enough  to  accomplish  the  work. 
The  severing  wedge  has  been  started,  and  those 
members  who  give  the  least  in  proi>ortion  to  their 
ability,  and  who  always  feel  it  "burdensome"  to 
pay  the  preacher,  never  lose  an  opportunity  to 
strike  that  wedge — will  pound  it  until  it  is  driven 
to  the  head — until  the  cleavage  is  complete. 

Another  method  which  is  sometimes  fallen  upon 
by  such  a  man  is  to  arrange  to  have  himself  in- 
vited to  assist,  in  a  "protracted  meeting,"  the 
minister  whose  position  he  covets.  When  the 
time  arrives  for  the  meeting  to  begin,  such  a  man 
will  take  his  "ecclesiastical  portfolio,"  containing 
about  a  dozen  sermons  ("borrowed"  ones,  too,  for 
such  a  man  has  no  other  kind  that  are  worth 
much),  and  he  goes  to  the  "field  of  combat."     Be- 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  51 

ing  before  a  strange  audience — an  audience  whose 
ears  are  itching  to  hear  "something  new" — he 
preaches  not  only  under  the  excitement  of  a  lis- 
tening congregation,  but  with  the  additional  in- 
centive inspired  by  the  hope  of  obtaining  a  larger 
and  more  luxuriant  ecclesiastical  pasture.  During 
the  meeting  he  makes  it  convenient  to  visit  most 
of  the  members,  assuring  the  resident  preacher 
that,  as  he  has  his  "hands  full  of  other  matters," 
he  need  not  visit  with  him.  Being  thus  safely 
ensconced,  out  of  sight  and  out  of  hearing  of  the 
"preacher  in  charge,"  he,  after  having  ingratiated 
himself  into  the  confidence  of  those  whom  he 
visits,  at  once  begins  to  apologize  for  the  poor  (?) 
preaching  which  he  is  doing,  and  assures  them 
that  he  never  could  preach  to  a  strange  congrega- 
tion half  as  well  as  to  his  own  people.  Should 
they  intimate  to  him  that  his  preaching  is  not 
only  very  acceptable  but  very  good,  he  then,  with 
a  significant  look,  gives  them  to  understand  that 
if  they  could  hear  him  constantly — Sabbath  after 
Sabbath — they  would  have  a  better  knowledge  of 
his  preaching  ability.  Having  gone  thus  far,  bis 
next  step  is  to  criticise  the  resident  preacher's 
method  of  conducting  revivals — laments  that  the 
meeting  is  not  doing  better,  and  is  very  sorry 
that  he  does  not  feel  at  liberty  to  conduct  it  ac- 
cording to  his  plan.  He  next  inquires  in  regard 
to  the  number  and  character  of  pastoral  visits 
Avhich  "their"  preacher  makes — how  he  conducts 
his  prayer-meeting  and  his  Sabbath-school — the 


52  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

singing  books  he  uses — his  stylo  of  preaching,  etc., 
etc.;  and,  after  having  condemned  every  thing,  he 
intimates — just  docs  do  so — that  he  sometimes  thinks 
of  changing  his  field  of  labor;  though  he  has  but 
little  hope  that  his  people  would  give  him  ujd.  By 
the  time  he  has  done  all  this,  he  has  reached  the 
bottom  of  his  "little  portfolio";  and  he  is  obliged 
to  leave — has  a  very  sore  throat,  or  has  other  en- 
gagements to  meet.  But  he  has  sowed  the  seed, 
and  they  soon  germinate.  The  congregation  be- 
comes restless,  intimates  to  their  preacher  that 
his  resignation  would  be  acceptable,  and  then  calls 
the  man  who  had  come  to  assist  (?)  their  former 
preacher ! 

We  have  no  disposition  to  attempt  an  extended 
comment  upon  such  conduct  as  has  been  described. 
The  truth  is,  some  sins  are  so  detestable  to  God 
and  man,  that  it  is  difficult  to  find  words  to  por- 
tray them.  Those  of  which  we  have  just  been 
speaking  certainl}^  belong  to  that  class.  How 
unlike  the  spirit  of  Christ  is  such  a  disposition! 
Of  all  men  on  earth,  ministers  of  the  gospel,  es- 
pecially those  of  the  same  Christian  household, 
should  be  the  most  tender,  and  the  most  careful 
of  each  other's  good  name  and  reputation.  They 
are  not  only  fellow-laborers,  but  fellow-heirs  to 
the  same  ecclesiastical  inheritance.  How  wicked, 
therefore,  to  attempt  to  blast  the  usefulness  of,  or 
to  wrong,  in  any  manner,  a  brother  minister! 
^^To  his  own  Master  he  standeth  orfalleth." 

A]\  true  ministers  are  divinely  called  to  the 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  53 

eaiiic  work — the  same  in  evciy  essential  feature. 
Their  hopes  and  fears,  their  trials  and  triumphs, 
are  one.  Why,  then,  should  they  hinder  each 
other's  work?  Their  sympathy  for  each  other 
should  be  holy,  deep,  and  abiding.  They  should 
rejoice  in  each  other's  success,  and  lament  each 
other's  defeat.  In  their  treatment  one  of  another 
there  should  ever  be  felt  and  exhibited  the  truest 
kindness,  the  most  generous  concern,  and  the 
purest  affection.  No  envy  of  a  brother  minister's 
talent,  acquirements,  or  popularity  should  be  for 
a  moment  indulged  in.  Never,  witliout  a  most 
urgent  reason,  should  they  utter  a  disparaging 
word  of  each  other.  The  gibe,  the  innuendo,  the 
belittling  word,  should  never  be  heard.  J^he 
world  should  see  that  gospel  ministers,  at  least, 
"  dwell  together  in  unity."  Such  a  heavenly 
spectacle  would  go  far  toward  convincing  the 
world  of  the  divinity  of  Christianity.  Then  let 
all  words  of  misrepresentation  and  detraction, 
and  all  undermining  acts,  forever  cease.  How 
will  such  things  aj)j)ear  in  the  judgment  da}^? 
How  do  they  now  grieve  the  Holy  Spirit,  work 
the  defeat  of  the  gospel,  and  ruin  immortal  souls! 
True,  as  has  been  said,  there  are  not  many  such 
ministers;  but  surely  one  such  is  too  many.  And 
should  any  one  think  that  the  language  which 
has  been  used  is  too  strong,  let  the  apolog}^  be 
that  the  evil  under  consideration  is  so  offensive 
that  it  needs  correction;  and,  in  the  opinion  of 
the  author,  the  best  way  to  do  so  is  by  exposing 


54  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

the  Bin  in  its  native  deformit3^  All  the  denomi- 
nations of  Christendom  have  suffered  more  or  less 
by  such  characters ;  and  they  feel  an  interest  in 
having  the  evil  made  as  odious  to  all  good  people 
as  it  is  abhorrent  to  God  himself.  If,  then,  any 
minister  who  reads  these  pages  feels  that  he  has 
not  been  as  careful  in  regard  to  the  reputation  or 
personal  interests  of  his  brethren  as  he  should 
have  been,  let  him  resolve  that,  from  this  time 
forth,  he  will  reform.  It  ma^^  be  too  late  to  re- 
pair the  mischief  which  has  alread}^  been  done,  but 
it  is  not  too  late  to  prevent  the  mischief  which 
can  he  done.  An  envious,  jealous  spirit  is  a  hate- 
ful thing  anywhere;  but  it  is  especially  out  of 
place  in  the  sacred  ministry. 

As  a  sort  of  scholium  [something  added  to  what 
has  gone  before],  as  mathematicians  would  say, 
we  might  refer  to  those  bitter  personal  animosities 
and  dislikes  which  sometimes  occur  between  min- 
isters belonging  to  the  same  Presbytery,  Confer- 
ence, Association,  etc.  These  often  do  great 
harm,  and  every  effort  should  be  made  by  the 
mutual  friends  of  the  parties  to  "nip  them  in  the 
bud";  because,  when  permitted  to  exist  for  even 
a  short  time,  they  do  untold  mischief  Unless 
corrected  at  the  outset,  they  become  "putrefying 
sores,"  which  are  with  difficulty  "bound  up,"  or 
"mollified  with  ointment."  A  distinguished  law- 
yer, who  was  a  devoted  Christian,  once  said,  "I 
would  rather  undertake  to  reconcile  two  irre- 
ligious men,  who  are  at  variance,  than  to  try  to 


PULPIT    AND   PEW.  55 

adjust  a  difficult}'  between  two  ministers  of  the 
gospel."  The  best  way,  therefore,  is  not  to  have 
these  troubles.  Nothing  rejoices  Satan  more  than 
to  have  these  feuds  exist;  and  nothing,  scarcely, 
has  a  greater  influence  in  postponing  the  day  pre- 
dicted by  the  prophet  when  the  "watchmen  shall 
see  eye  to  eye."  Paul  says,  "  If  ye  bite  and  devour 
one  another,  take  heed  that  ye  be  not  consumed 
one  of  another."     (Gal.  v.  15.) 

Let  no  one,  however,  misinterpret  the  meaning 
intended  to  be  conve^^ed  by  what  has  been  said. 
As  a  class,  ministers  of  the  gospel  are  the  purest 
and  best  men  on  earth;  and  though  there  maybe 
some,  yea,  quite  a  number,  who  are  not  what  they 
should  be — are  not  "ensamples  to  the  flock,"  yet 
they  constitute  the  exceptions — are,  so  to  speak, 
the  excrescences  which  are  formed  from  the 
wounds  made  by  Satan  upon  the  grand  old  minis- 
terial tree,  on  the  boughs  of  which,  in  all  ages  of 
the  world,  have  ever  been  found  the  richest 
clusters  of  that  fruit  "which  is  for  the  healing  of 
the  nations." 

5.  He  must  possess  dignity  of  character — must  be 
a  Christian  gentleman. 

In  insisting  that  a  minister  should  be  a  gentle- 
man in  his  intercourse  with  the  world,  we  do  not 
wish  to  be  understood  as  believing  or  saying  that 
he  is  to  be  a  man  of  that  punctilious  adjustment 
of  dress,  bows,  smiles,  etc.,  inculcated  and  enforced 
by  Lord  Chesterfield — far  from  it;  for,  as  one  has, 


56  PULl'iT    AND    PEW. 

perhai>s,  correctly  said,  "Chesterfield  inculcates 
the  morals  of  a  libertine  and  the  manners  of  a 
dancing  master."  Nor  do  we  at  all  have  reference 
to  those  artificial  manners  which  display  constant 
effort  and  constraint — those  manners  which  are 
formed  on  strictly  worldly  principles,  and  which 
qualify  the  possessor  for  a  display  in  what  is 
termed  "fashionable  life";  but  to  those,  and  those 
only,  Avhich  intellectual  culture  and  Christian 
purity  demand,  and  which,  wiicre  those  graces 
reign,  they  will  ever  be  found  substantial!}^  to 
produce.  By  the  ministerial  dignity,  upon  which 
we  are  insisting,  we  mean  that  happy  mixture  of 
gravity  and  elevation  in  human  deportment, 
which  indicate  a  mind  habitually  thoughtful, 
serious,  and  set  on  high  things — an  air  and  man- 
ner opposed  to  unguarded  levity,  to  all  "slang 
phrases,"  and  to  disgusting  buffoonery.  The 
dignity,  too,  of  which  we  speak,  also  requires  its 
possessor  to  avoid  those  gatherings  in  which  lan- 
guage is  used  and  scenes  are  exhibited  which 
should  not  even  be  countenanced  by  a  minister 
of  the  gospel.  When  a  preacher  permits  himself 
to  be  found  at  such  places,  though  he  may  take  no 
part  in  them,  he  necessarily  compromises  his 
Christian  character,  and  brings  reproach  upon 
the  cause  of  his  Master.  This  dignity,  too,  pre- 
cludes the  idea  of  loud,  boisterous  laughter — an 
unmistakable  mark  of  low  breeding,  It  also  pre- 
cludes the  idea  of  the  relation  of  coarse,  vulgar 
anecdotes.     It  pains  us  greatly  to  say  that  this  is 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  57 

ever  done;  but  those  who  have  mixed  and  mingled 
with  the  ministry  know  that  it  sometimes  occurs. 
Not  many,  however,  we  are  glad  to  say,  are  will- 
ing to  put  themselves  on  a  level,  in  this  particular, 
w^ith  the  coarse,  obscene,  vile  wretches  who  fre- 
quent drinking  saloons  and  gambling  dens. 

The  great  Dr.  Miller,  of  Princeton  College,  lays 
it  down  as  a  rule  that  no  minister  should  ever  re- 
late an  anecdote  to  even  a  company  of  his  own 
profession,  which  he  would  not  relate  in  a  parlor 
of  delicate,  refined  ladies.  Uj^on  this  point,  too, 
the  Sacred  Scriptures  are  outspoken  and  emj^hatic. 
"Let  no  corrupt  communication  proceed  out  of 
your  mouth."  (Eph.  iv.  29.)  "Neither  filthiness, 
nor  foolish  jesting,  which  are  not  convenient" 
[proper].  (Eph.  v.  4.)  "  But  now  ye  also  put  off 
all  these:  anger,  wrath,  malice,  blasphemy,  filthy 
communication  out  of  your  mouth."     (Col.  iii.  8.) 

If,  then,  any  preacher,  old  or  young,  has,  in  the 
2)ast,  so  far  forgotten  himself  and  the  dignity  of 
his  office  as  to  have  indulged  in  such  ungentle- 
manly,  unministerial,  and  "filthy  communica- 
tions," let  him  at  once  get  upon  his  knees,  ask  for 
forgiveness,  and  resolve,  by  the  help  of  God,  never 
to  do  such  a  thing  again !  Such  anecdotes  degrade 
a  minister  in  his  own  estimation,  and  in  the  esti- 
mation of  all  decent  people  to  whom  he  relates 
them.  Is  there  a  solitary  example  in  the  Bible  to 
justify  it?  Did  Christ,  the  greatest  and  holiest  of 
all  preachers,  ever  utter  a  word  that  even  bordered 
on  impurity  ?     It  shocks  one's  feelings  to  even  ask 


58  rULPlT    AND    TKW. 

the  question.  Of  course,  he  was  not  an  ascetic; 
for,  as  a  man,  he  was  gentle,  social,  companion- 
able. He  mingled  freely  with  the  rich  and  poor, 
with  Jew  and  Gentile;  yet,  to  him  life  was  real 
and  earnest,  and  the  part  which  he  acted  was  no 
comedy.  We  read  of  his  prayers  and  tears,  but 
Ave  have  no  record  of  his  boisterous  mirth  and 
hilarity.  This  is  not  only  true  of  the  Teacher, 
but  of  the  Book  which  he  dictated  for  our  guide. 
We  may  search  the  New  Testament  from  begin- 
ning to  end,  and  we  will  fail  to  find,  in  all  its  vast 
sweep  of  argument  and  exhortation,  one  single 
witticism,  one  single  indelicate  allusion  or  expres- 
sion. Such  things  come  not  from  Christ  nor  the 
Bible,  but  from  sinks  of  pollution  and  iniquity. 
Now,  is  not  Christ  the  minister's  example  in  the 
pulpit  as  well  as  out  of  it? 

The  same  is  true  of  the  prophets  and  apostles. 
Which  of  them  ever  committed  such  improprieties 
as  those  which  we  are  condemning?  Did  Isaiah, 
did  Jeremiah,  did  Paul,  or  Peter,  or  John  ?  Never, 
no  7iever.  They  felt  that  their  commission  was  a 
serious  commission,  and  that  the  Bible  is  a  serious 
book.  They  knew  that  God  is  serious,  that  heaven 
is  serious,  that  hell  is  serious;  and  how  could 
they  afford  to  put  themselves  uj^on  a  level  with 
the  vilest  of  the  earth? 

Julian,  the  inveterate  enemy  of  the  Christian  re- 
ligion, thougiit  that  he  could  supplant  the  true  by 
the  false,  if  he  could  induce  his  pagan  priests  to 
be  exemplary  in  their ''walk  and  conversation." 


PULriT    AND    PEW.  59 

Hence,  he  issued  tlie  decree  that  "  they  should 
banish  from  them  all  low  jests  and  libertine  con- 
versations; that  they  should  neither  hear,  nor 
read,  nor  think,  nor  utter  any  thing  licentious  or 
indecent." 

Dr.  John  Hall,  in  speaking  of  the  gravity  which 
belongs  to  the  ministry,  says :  "  Did  you  ever  see 
a  pilot  take  a  ship  through  a  perilous  passage? 
He  is  grave.  I  have  seen  the  surgeon's  knife 
drawn  round  the  limb  where  an  error  of  an  inch 
would  have  been  a  terrible  mistake.  He  was 
grave.  I  have  heard  a  conscientious  judge  weigh 
and  set  oiit  in  the  utmost  fullness  the  evidence  in 
a  murder  case,  as  earnestl}^  bent  on  putting  every 
thing  fairly  as  if  his  own  life  depended  on  the 
issue.  Any  levit}^  here  Avould  be  out  of  place; 
and  on  the  same  principle,  by  the  average  of  man- 
kind, gravity  will  be  looked  for  in  those  who  deal 
with  matters  of  life  and  death,  and  speak  for  God. 
That  ministers,  like  other  people,  have  laughing 
muscles  in  the  face  is  prima  facie  evidence  that 
they  are  at  liberty  to  laugh  sometimes;  but  they 
have  a  great  manj^  muscles  that  have  no  special 
relation  to  preaching." 

Closely  allied  to  the  evil  of  which  we  have  just 
spoken,  there  is  another  which,  though  not  quite 
80  pernicious,  is,  nevertheless,  to  be  strictly 
avoided,  and  heartily  despised.  We  have  refer- 
ence to  the  habit  which  some  preachers  have 
formed  of  extravagant  speaking — of  telling  things 
which    really   arc    untrue.      AYe   once   visited   a 


60  PULPIT   AND    PEW. 

country  chnrcb,  and  in  conversation  with  an 
official  member,  asked,  among  other  questions,  who 
Avas  his  minister.  He  gave  the  name  of  the 
j)reacher;  and  in  answer  to  the  question,  How  is 
he  succeeding  in  his  work  ?  he  said :  "He  is  a  very 
fair  preacher;  but  it  takes  much  of  my  time  in 
endeavoring  to  'explain'  or  'mollify'  the  extrava- 
gant and  unreasonable  thingi^  which  he  relates 
every  time  he  comes  to  fill  an  appointment."  He 
then  added,  "We  are  getting  very  tired  of  him, 
for  he  is  doing  no  good."  Of  course,  such  a  min- 
ister can  have  but  little  influence  for  good 
wherever  he  is  known ;  for  the  plain,  common 
sense  of  the  people,  as  w^ell  as  the  Bible  itself, 
condemns  and  discountenances  such  a  man. 

There  are  also  some  preachers  who  have  con- 
tracted a  similar  habit  in  their  pulpit  efforts. 
These  men,  be  it  said  to  their  discredit  and  to  the 
disparagement  of  our  holy  religion,  have  such  act- 
ive imaginations  that  they  can  repeat  conversa- 
tions which  never  occurred,  and  relate  incidents 
which  never  transpired!  These  men,  too,  are  al- 
ways the  "heroes"  of  all  the  events  which  they 
narrate,  and  the  "victors"  of  every  rencounter 
that  occurs.  To  hear  them  talk,  one  would  think 
that  there  are  very  few  distinguished  men  in 
Christendom  with  whom  they  were  not  either 
personally  acquainted,  or  from  whom  they  had 
not  received  a  number  of  letters.  To  a  great  ex- 
tent the  sermons  of  such  men  are  heavily  inter- 
larded   with    these    "incidents,"  "conversations," 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  61 

etc.,  which  scarcely  no  one  believes  ever  had  "a 
habitation  and  a  name  "  !  It  is  by  no  means  cred- 
itable to  the  sacred  profession  that  it  contains  even 
a  small  number  of  such  men.  An  unreasonable 
narrative — a  manufactured  incident — is  reprehen- 
sible anywhere;  but  in  the  jyulpit  it  is  disgusting — 
yea,  grossly  wicked.  A  minister  should  be  the 
highest  exponent  of  truth;  and  it  is  just  as 
sinful — yea,  more  so — to  tell  an  untruth  in  the 
pulpit  as  in  the  court-house.  Not  many,  we  are 
glad  to  say,  have  contracted  a  habit  so  disrepu- 
table; and  no  good  man,  we  feel  certain,  prays  that 
those  few  shall  have  successors. 

The  ministerial  dignity  and  gentlemanly  de- 
portment upon  which  we  are  insisting  also  have 
reference  to  dress.  Some  ministers,  we  feel  sorry 
to  say,  are  not  as  careful  in  this  particular  as  they 
should  be.  The  truth  is,  they  seem  to  delight  in 
being  odd — out  of  style,  sloven.  A  preacher's 
dress,  whether  he  lives  in  the  country,  in  the 
town,  or  in  the  city,  should  be  plain,  whole,  neat, 
and  clean.  We  do  not  mean  that  he  should  make 
his  apparel  an  object  o?  primary  im2:)ortance;  but 
Ave  do  mean  that  he  cannot  afford  to  neglect  it. 
A  minister  is  a  public  man — must  necessarily  live 
in  public — and  he  should  dress,  whenever  he  goes 
into  society,  just  about  as  he  would  on  the  Sab- 
bath. He  cannot  afford  to  be  slovenly  and  filthy 
in  his  person — cannot  afford  to  go  into  company 
with  frail  and  soiled  garments.  No  decent  and 
cleanly  household  cares  to  entertain  such  a  man ; 


62  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

and  such  a  cbaractcr  ought  to  be  ashamed  to  im- 
pose himself  upon  well-bred  people,  either  in  the 
pulpit  or  in  the  family.  Indeed,  a  minister's  use- 
fulness, to  a  very  great  extent,  depends  upon  his 
social  habits — upon  his  ability  to  associate  with 
good  society-.  Eemember,  we  do  not  say  that  a 
minister's  clothes  should  be  of  the  finest  texture; 
but  we  do  say  that  they  should  be  whole,  neat, 
and  clean,  and  that  his  deportment  should  be  that 
of  a  quiet,  high-toned,  Christian  gentleman.  A 
minister  has  no  more  right  to  be  rude,  slovenly, 
or  ill-bred,  than  any  other  gentleman.  He  may 
be  ignorant  of  some  of  the  conventionalities  of 
society;  but  he  will  be  respected,  nevertheless,  if 
he  is  a  man  of  o;entle  and  refined  feelino;.  In  a 
word,  no  preacher  can  aff'ord  to  take  liberties  in 
regard  to  his  deportment,  his  conversation,  or  his 
dress,  simply  because  he  is  a  preacher. 

6.  He  must  he  a  man  of  fervent,  jperseverii^ 
prayer. 

Prayer  is  the  sacred  duty  of  every  Christian.  It 
is  essential  to  the  very  existence  of  religion.  The 
sun  cannot  shine,  and  give  no  light;  a  fountain 
cannot  spring  up,  and  send  forth  no  stream;  nor 
can  religion  exist  in  the  heart,  and  not  produce  a 
disposition  to  pray. 

But  while  the  foregoing  remarks  are  applicable 
to  all  Chi'istians,  they  are,  so  to  speak,  pre-emi- 
nently so  in  reference  to  ministers  of  the  gospel. 
Luther  said,  "Prayer,  meditation,  and  temptation 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  63 

make  a  minister,"  No  one,  wlio  has  ever  realized 
the  weight  of  ministerial  responsibilit}^,  and  who 
has  been  led  to  feel  that  his  "  sufficiency  is  of  God," 
can  for  a  single  moment  hesitate  to  admit  the  im- 
portance of  one  of  the  very  first  of  these  qualifi- 
cations. To  a  very  great  extent  the  Christian 
ministry  is  a  work  of  faith;  and  that  it  may  be  a 
work  of  faith  it  must  be  a  work  of  prayer. 

It  was  once  a  custom  among  heathen  nations, 
and  perhaps  it  still  exists  among  some  of  them, 
to  make  their  rulers,  who  were  also  their  priests, 
answer  with  their  lives  if  their  people  were  visited 
with  unfruitful  seasons,  or  with  other  terrible 
calamities.  They  supposed  that,  if  they  had  been 
men  of  prayer,  and  as  intimate  with  the  gods  as 
they  should  have  been,  those  disasters  might  have 
been  averted.  When  we  reflect  that  their  gods 
did  not  have  in  their  hands  the  issues  of  events, 
nor  any  power  over  the  seasons,  we  are  at  once 
prepared  to  pronounce  the  custom  a  ridiculous 
and  cruel  one.  But  in  respect  to  ministers  of  the 
gospel,  the  case  is  so  very  different  that,  though 
the  practice  may  not  be  defensible,  under  the  ad- 
ministration of  any  religion  whatever,  the  senti- 
ment, it  must  be  confessed,  is  much  less  absurd ; 
for  it  simply  shows  how  natural  it  is  for  men  to 
look  up  to  their  priests  as  their  intercessors  with 
Heaven. 

If  the  prayers  of  a  minister  of  the  law,  as  in 
the  case  of  Elijah,  had  the  power  to  open  or  to 
shut   the    heavens,  to    procure    drought   or  rain, 


64  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

Bcarce  or  plentiful  seasons,  why  may  wc  not  sup- 
pose that  the  prayers  of  a  minister  of  the  gospel 
might  be  even  more  prevalent  with  God?  Hence, 
the  assertion  of  a  distinguished  modern  theologian 
that  "a  prayerless  minister  is  chargeable  with  all 
the  crimes  which  the  prayers  of  a  faithful  pastor 
might  prevent,  and  with  all  the  evils  which  they 
might  remove^''  is  by  no  means  as  extravagant  as 
one  might  at  first  think. 

The  best  and  holiest  men  in  the  sacred  office 
have  ever  made  prayer  the  most  important  part 
of  pulpit  preparation.  The  biographer  of  Mc- 
Cheyne  says  of  him,  "Anxious  to  give  his  people 
on  the  Sabbath  what  had  cost  him  somew^hat,  he 
never,  except  for  an  urgent  reason,  went  before 
them  without  much  previous  meditation  and 
prayer.  Being  asked  his  view  of  diligent  prepa- 
ration for  the  pulpit,  he  referred  to  Exodus  xxvii. 
20.  ^Beaten  oil — beaten  oil  for  the  lamps  of  the 
sanctuary.'  And  yet  his  prayerfulness  was  greater 
still.  Indeed,  he  could  not  neglect  fellowship 
with  God  before  entering  the  congregation.  He 
needed  to  be  bathed  in  the  love  of  God.  With 
him  the  commencement  of  all  labor  consisted  in 
the  preparation  of  his  own  soul.  The  walls  of 
his  chamber  were  the  witnesses  of  his  prayerful- 
ness and  of  his  tears,  as  well  as  of  his  cries." 

The  secret  of  Luther's  power  lay  in  the  same 
direction.  Theodorus  said  of  him :  "  I  overheard 
him  in  prayer;  but  great  God,  with  w^hat  life  and 
spirit  did  he  pray!     Itwasv.ith  so  much  rever- 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  65 

ence  as  if  he  were  speaking  to  God,  yet  with  so 
much  confidence  as  if  he  were  speaking  to  his 
friend."  And  Luther  himself  used  to  say,  in 
some  of  his  busiest  seasons,  "I  have  so  much  to 
do,  that  I  cannot  get  on  without  three  hours  a-day 
of  praying."'  John  Welsh  sometimes  spent  seven 
or  eight  hours  a-day  in  the  closet.  His  wife,  on 
one  occasion,  found  him  lying  on  the  ground 
weeping  and  agonizing;  and,  on  asking  him  the 
cause,  he  replied,  "I  have  three  thousand  souls  to 
take  care  of,  and  I  do  not  know  how  many  of 
them  are  prospering."  Doddridge  said,  "So  it  is, 
though  it  may  seem  a,  riddle,  that  when  I  pray 
and  meditate  most,  I  work  most."  And  Bishop 
Sanderson,  speaking  of  prayer  and  study  going 
hand  in  hand,  says,  "  Omit  either,  and  the  other 
is  lost  labor.  Prayer  without  study  is  presump- 
tion; and  study  without  prayer  is  atheism."  It 
is  said  of  AUeine,  "He  poured  out  his  very  heart 
in  prayer  and  preaching.  His  supplications  and 
Ms  exhortations  were  so  aifectionate,  so  full  of 
holy  zeal,  life,  and  vigor,  that  they  quite  over- 
came his  hearers."  Yinet  says,  "Prayer  is  neces- 
sary to  keep  us  [ministers]  at  the  proper  point  of 
vision,  which  is  always  escaping  from  us,  to  heal 
the  wounds  of  self-love  and  of  feeling,  to  renew 
our  courage,  to  anticipate  the  always  threatened 
invasion  of  indolence,  of  levity,  of  dilatoriness, 
and  spiritual  and  ecclesiastical  pride,  of  pulpit 
vanity,  of  professional  jealousy.  Prayer  resem- 
bles the  air  of  certain  isles  of  the  ocean,  the 
5 


G6  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

purity  of  which  will  allow  no  life  to  vermin. 
AVith  this  atmosphere  we  should  compass  ourselves 
about  as  the  diver  surrounds  himself  with  a  bell 
before  he  descends  into  the  sea." 

Bi>t,  much  as  has  been  said  and  written  upon 
this  subject,  no  one  has  ever  solved  the  true  dy- 
namics of  prayer  so  far  as  the  ministry  is  con- 
cerned. It  is  the  life  and  soul  of  the  sacred  office. 
Says  Spurgeon,  "xlmong  all  the  formative  in- 
fluences which  go  to  make  up  a  man  honored  of 
God  in  the  ministry,  I  knoAV  of  none  more 
mighty  than  his  own  familiarit}^  with  the  mercy- 
seat.  All  that  a  college^,  course  can  do  for  a 
student  is  rough  and  external  compared  with  the 
spiritual  and  delicate  refinement  obtained  by 
communion  with  God.  While  the  unformed  min- 
ister is  revolving  upon  the  wheel  of  preparation, 
prayer  is  the  tool  of  the  great  Potter  by  which 
he  molds  the  vessel.  All  our  libraries  and  studies 
are  mere  emptiness  compared  with  our  closets. 
We  grow,  we  wax  mighty,  we  prevail  in  private 
prayer." 

Uj^on  the  necessity  and  importance  of  this  duty 
the  Sacred  Scriptures  are  outspoken  and  explicit. 
The  blessed  Saviour  himself  spent  much  of  his 
time  in  secret  prayer.  "To  him,"  as  one  has 
properl}'  said,  "  every  place  was  an  altar,  where 
he  poured  out  the  yearnings  of  his  soul  to  the 
Father."  The  patriarchs  and  prophets  were  all 
men  of  prayer.  So  with  the  disciples.  By  direct 
command,  the}'  were  to  tarry  in  the  cit}'  of  Jeru- 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  67 

salem  until  they  were  endued  with  power  from  on 
high.  (See  Luke  xxiv.  49.)  And  while  they  were 
praying  together,  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  the 
Holy  Spirit  came  upon  them,  and  they  thereby 
received  a  special  preparation  for  their  work. 

As  it  has  been,  as  it  is  now,  and  will  ever  be, 
prayer  is  the  most  powerful  lever  which  the  mes- 
senger of  God  can  employ,  The  closet  is  the  best 
place  to  receive  i:)reparation  for  ministerial  duties. 
Commentators  are  important  assistants  to  the 
proper  understanding  of  the  Bible;  but  the  Au- 
thor of  that  Book  is  infinitely  better.  How  won- 
derfully were  the  "books  opened"  to  Daniel  when 
he  was  engaged  in  earnest  supplication,  and  to 
David  when  he  "inquired  of  the  Lord"!  What 
grand  truths  were  unfolded  to  Peter  when  he 
was  at  prayer  "uj)on  the  housetop"!  The  same 
is  true  now.  It  is  said  that  Dr.  Doddridge,  when 
other  helps  failed  to  satisfy  his  mind' in  regard  to 
the  import  of  certain  passages  of  Scripture,  "used 
to  consult  a  poor  old  woman  living  near  him,  and 
that  he  generally  acquiesced  in  her  conclusions." 
This  he  did  because  he  had  confidence  that  this 
noble  old  Christian  obtained  her  interpretations 
from  the  Holy  Spirit,  in  answer  to  prayer. 

In  conclusion  upon  this  point,  the  assertion  is 
made  (and  without  the  fear  of  contradiction,  too) 
that,  in  all  the  ages  of  the  past,  those  ministers 
who  have  accomplished  the  greatest  results — who 
have  instrumentally  saved  the  largest  number  of 
sinners,  who  have  most  deepened  the  faith  of  the 


68  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

age,  and  who  have  clone  most  for  the  advance- 
ment of  Christ's  kingdom  in  the  world — have  been 
those  who,  in  a  marked  degree,  were  men  of 
prayer — men  "filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost."  In 
confirmation  of  this,  the  following  historical  fact 
is  related:  At  the  open  grave  of  John  Evangelist 
Gossner,  it  was  said  of  him,  "He  prayed  up  the 
walls  of  hospitals;  he  prayed  mission  stations 
into  being,  and  missionaries  into  faith;  he  prayed 
open  the  hearts  of  the  rich,  and  gold  from  the 
most  distant  lands.''  "As  for  his  sennons,  the 
power  of  his  words,"  says  a  distinguished  writer, 
"was  evidently  in  the  prayer  which  winged  them 
with  a  resistless  force  to  the  hearts  of  his  hearers; 
for  prayer  was  the  breath  of  his  life."  "Here  I 
sit,"  he  would  say,  "in  my  little  room.  I  cannot 
go  here  and  there  to  arrange  and  order  every 
thing;  and  if  I  could,  who  knows  if  it  would  be 
well  done?*But  the  Lord  is  there,  who  knows 
and  can  do  every  thing,  and  I  give  it  all  over  to 
him,  and  bog  him  to  direct  it  all,  and  order  it 
after  his  holy  will;  and  then  my  heart  is  light 
and  joyful,  and  I  believe  and  trust  him  that  he 
will  carry  it  nobly  out." 

Many  other  incidents,  of  like  prayer  and  like 
faith,  might  be  mentioned,  but  it  is  unnecessary 
to  do  so.  Suffice  it  to  say,  no  man  can  succeed  in 
the  gospel  ministry  without  prayer,  and  a  great 
deal  of  it.  No  wonder,  therefore,  that  the  apostles, 
though  divinely  inspire"!,  should  say,  "We  will 
give    ourselves    continually    to    prayer."     Would, 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  69 

then,  that  the  Holy  Ghost  might  breathe  upon  the 
ministers  of  this  day  that  "agonizing  of  soul" 
which  would  transform  them  into  a  band  of 
wrestling  Jacobs!  Happy  the  congregations 
which  have  such  ministers  at  their  altars! 

7.  JBLe  must  he  a  man  of  earnestness  and  zeal. 

To  enlighten  the  mind,  and  affect  the  heart,  are 
the  two  main  objects  of  the  gospel  ministry.  The 
first  requires  ivisdom;  the  second,  fervency.  Says 
the  great  Baxter,  "Nothing  is  more  reprehensible 
than  a  dead  preacher  speaking  to  dead  sinners 
the  living  truth  of  God."  It  is  not  expected  that 
all  ministers  should  have  great  talents,  extraor- 
dinary gifts,  and  profound  scholarship;  but  it  is 
both  expected  and  required  that  they  should  have 
earnestness  and  zeal.  Without  these,  no  preacher 
can  succeed;  and  to  acquire  these  indispensable 
prerequisites,  no  study,  no  pains,  no_ application 
should  be  spared.  The  minister  who  docs  not  put 
his  heart  into  his  sermon  will  never  put  his  ser- 
mon into  the  hearts  of  the  people.  Pompous" elo- 
cution, theatrical  display,  or  affected  emotions 
may  please  the  fancy;  but  such  hypocrisy  can 
never  reach  the  heart  and  reform  the  life.  A 
painted  fire  may  glare,  but  cannot  warm.  Preach- 
ing is  not  the  work  of  the  lungs,  or  the  mimicry 
of  gesture;  but  the  spiritual  energy  of  a  mind  and 
heart  warmed  and  invigorated  by  the  love  of 
Christ.  Says  Doddridge,  "While  I  have  any  rev- 
erence for  Scripture,  or  any  knowledge  of  human 


70  rULPIT    AND    PEW. 

nature,  I  will  never  affect  to  speak  of  the  glories 
of  Christ,  and  of  the  eternal  interests  of  man,  as 
coldly  as  if  I  were  reading  a  lecture  on  mathe- 
matics, or  relating  an  experiment  in  natural 
philosophy." 

The  ministry  of  this  day  may  learn  an  impor- 
tant and  impressive  lesson  from  the  reply  of  Gar- 
rick,  the  world-renowned  actor.  A  preacher  once 
asked  him  the  question,  "How  is  it  that  you,  who 
deal  in  nothing  but  fiction,  can  so  affect  your  au- 
dience as  to  throw  them  into  tears,  while  I,  who 
deliver  the  most  awful  and  interesting  truths,  can 
scarcely  produce  any  effect  whatever?"  The 
great  tragedian  answered,  "Here  lies  the  secret: 
You  deliver  your  truths  as  if  they  were  fictions ; 
but  I  deliver  my  fictions  as  if  they  were  truths." 
The  fact  is,  all  are  orators  when  they  feel  what 
they  say;  nor  can  mere  words,  unaccompanied  by 
feeling,  touch  and  move  the  heart.  When  people 
go  to  hear  the  gospel,  they  want  their  emotional 
nature,  as  well  as  their  understanding  addressed. 

The  mere  multiplying  of  men  calling  them- 
selves ministers  of  the  gospel  will  avail  but  little — 
yea,  nothing,  without  zeal.  Such  men  are  but 
"cumberers  of  the  ground."  Cecil  asked,  "  What 
man  on  earth  is  so  pernicious  a  drone  as  an  idle 
minister?"  And  Fletcher  truly  said,  " Lukewarm 
ministers  make  careless  Christians."  A  distin- 
guished writer,  iu  comparing  Baxter  and  Orton, 
said,  "Baxter  would  have  set  the  world  on  fire 
wliile  Orton  was  lighting  a  match."     How  true 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  71 

the  remark!  Yet  not  true  alone  of  these  two 
men;  for  they  are  simply  representations  of  the 
two  classes  of  preachers  that  have  been  in  the 
Church  of  Christ  in  every  age.  The  latter  class, 
we  are  sorry  to  say,  are  far  the  more  numerous : 
the  Ortons  may  be  counted  by  the  hundredsj  the 
Baxters  by  tens.  Two  lines  of  his,  with  which 
we  are  all  familiar,  show  what  kind  of  a  preacher 
Baxter  was — 

"  I'll  preach  as  though  I  ne'er  should  preach  again, 
And  as  a  dying  man  to  dying  men." 

lie  had  an  earnestness  of  manner  which  swept 
every  thing  before  it  like  a  torrent.  Dr.  Bates,  a 
contemporary,  says  of  him,  "His  great  mind 
could  not  stoop  to  the  affected  eloquence  of  words. 
He  despised  flashy  oratory.  But  his  expressions 
were  so  clear  and  powerful,  so  convincing  to  the 
understanding,  so  entering  into  the  soul,  so  en- 
gaging the  affections,  that  those  were  as  deaf 
as  an  adder  who  were  not  charmed  by  so  wise  a 
charmer."  With  such  zeal,  with  such  earnestness, 
no  wonder  it  became  necessary  to  build  five  new 
galleries  in  his  church  at  Kidderminster,  in  order 
to  accommodate  the  vast  crowds  which  attended  his 
ministry.  In  London,  the  number  which  flocked 
to  hear  him  was  so  large,  that  it  was  sometimes 
dangerous,  and  often  impossible,  to  be  one  of  his 
auditors. 

As  Paul  forcibly  expresses  it,  "Necessity  is  laid 
upon"  the  minister.     His   business   requires    all 


72  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

possible  exertion.  He  is  sent  to  enlighten  the 
world,  to  save  it  from  the  curse  of  sin,  to  cast 
down  the  kingdom  of  Satan,  and  to  build  up  the 
kingdom  of  Christ.  He  is  sent  to  feed  and  guide 
the  Church  which  God  loved,  for  which  Christ 
died,  in  which  the  Spirit  resides,  and  to  which 
angels  look  with  the  deepest  interest.  How,  then, 
can  he  be  lukewarm  and  indifferent?  How  ardent 
was  the  Saviour  in  his  zeal  for  his  Father's  house ! 
He  continually  "went  about  doing  good,"  and 
enibraced  every  opportunity  in  public,  in  private, 
in  the  ship,  in  the  field,  at  the  "feast" — every- 
where— to  save  sinners.  And  when  Dr.  Mason,  on 
his  return  from  Scotland,  was  interrogated  as  to 
Dr.  Chalmers'  great  success  as  a  preacher,  he  an- 
swered, "It  is  his  blood-earnestness.'' 

Preaching  is  an  easy  work  only  to  those  who 
make  it  such,  and  those  who  make  it  such  arc 
loafers,  and  not  laborers,  in  the  Lord's  vineyard. 
Careful  preparation,  and  a  soul  all  alive  to  the 
work,  constitute  the  great  wants  of  the  pulpit, 
not  only  in  this  age,  but  in  every  other  age. 
People  cannot  but  feel  that  if  religion  is  worth 
any  thing,  it  is  worth  every  thing;  that  if  it  calls 
for  any  measure  of  zeal,  it  will  justify  a  high  de- 
gree of  it.  The  want  of  zeal  and  earnestness  in 
the  ministry,  in  other  days,  has  made  legions  of 
infidels;  and  should  not  the  ministry  of  the  pres- 
ent century  search  their  own  hearts  and  see  how 
much  of  the  modern  infidelity,  which  is  now 
blighting  the  world,  may  be  traced  to  similar  in- 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  73 

dolence  and  coldness?"  "jRasA  preaching,"  said 
Rowland  Hill,  "disgusts;  timid -preaching  leaves 
poor  souls  fast  asleep ;  bold  preaching  is  the  only- 
preaching  that  is  owned  of  God." 

Spiritually,  the  Avorld  is  dead,  and  the  lifeless 
services  of  a  lukewarm  ministr}^  can  never  "break 
the  seal"  of  the  sepulcher  in  which  it  lies  buried. 
The  yawn  of  the  sluggard  can  never  do  that 
which  requires  the  thrilling  blast  of  the  trumpet. 
The  rustling  of  the  leaf  can  never  accomplish 
that  which  demands  the  roar  of  the  thunder.  It 
is  not  merely  unsoundness  in  faith,  therefore,  nor 
open  inconsistency  of  life,  that  hinders  ministerial 
efficiency  and  ruins  immortal  souls.  A  j^reacher 
may  be  free  from  all  offenses  either  in  creed  or 
conduct,  and  yet  he  may  be,  in  a  certain  sense,  an 
Achan  in  the  camp,  or  a  Jonah  in  the  ship.  In 
the  language  of  another,  "He  may  be  freezing 
up  or  blasting  life  at  the  very  time  that  he  is 
speaking  of  the  way  of  life.  He  may  be  repel- 
ling men  from  the  cross  Avhen  he  is  in  words 
proclaiming  that  cross.  He  may  be  standing  be- 
tween his  flock  and  the  blessing  even  when  he  is, 
in  outward  form,  lifting  up  his  hands  to  bless 
them.  The  same  words  that,  from  a  warm  heart, 
would  drop  as  the  rain,  or  distill  as  the  dew,  fall 
from  his  lips  as  the  snow  or  hail,  chilling  all 
spiritual  warmth,  and  blighting  all  spiritual  life." 
In  other  words,  if  a  private  Christian  who  is  luke- 
warm is  rejected  and  cast  out,  like  insipid  water, 
which  is  neither  "hot  nor  cold,"  what  shall    be- 


74  PU-LPIT    AND    PEW. 

come  of  that  minister  who  is  a  loiterer  in  God's 
vineyard?  St.  Gregor}^  said,  "One  damnation  is 
not  enough  for  a  lifeless  shepherd ;  but  for  every 
soul  that  dies  by  his  evil  example,  or  pernicious 
carelessness,  he  deserves  a  new  death,  a  new  dam- 
nation." And  God  says,  "But  if  the  watchman 
see  the  sword  come,  and  blow  not  the  trumpet, 
and  the  people  be  not  warned;  if  the  sword 
come,  and  take  any  person  from  among  them,  he 
is  taken  away  in  his  iniquity;  but  his  blood  will 
I  require  at  the  Avatch man's  hand."  (Ezek. 
xxxiii.  6.) 

Earnestness  and  zeal,  therefore,  are  not  only 
necessary  to  ministerial  success,  but  to  ministerial 
fidelity.  That  was  a  scathing  criticism  recently 
made  upon  the  ministry  of  this  age  by  a  distin- 
guished Christian  lawyer,  when  he  said,  "If  one 
of  ray  students  did  not  exhibit  more  earnestness 
to  gain  a  five-dollar  suit,  in  the  court  of  a  justice 
of  the  peace,  than  many  preachers  do  in  warning 
a  sinner  to  flee  from  hell,  I  would  not  permit  him 
to  remain  under  my  tutorship." 

As  a  class,  the  zealous  ministers  are  those  who 
accomplish  the  greatest  amount  of  good — are 
those  who  "turn  the  world  upside  down."  True, 
there  is  some  danger  of  going  to  extremes  in  this 
2:>articular.  Zeal  needs,  and  must  have,  guiding 
and  controlling,  else,  like  the  elephants  on  ancient 
battle-fields,  it  may  sometimes  do  injury  to  its 
own  side.  Still,  more  ministers  need  a  spur  than 
a  bridle.     Look  where  we  may,  we  will  find  that 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  75 

where  zealous  ministers  are  located  there  the 
cause  of  Christ  is  most  prosperous.  They  who 
are  warm  AviU  warm^others.  They  who  are  wide 
awake  will  awaken  others.  They  come  down 
upon  men  like  Moses  from  the  Mount.  They 
shine  as  if  they  had  been  in  the  presence  of  God. 
They  carry  to  and  fro  with  them,  as  they  walk  up 
and  down  through  the  world,  the  savor  of  heaven 
itself. 

8.  He  should  be  a  man  of  great  firmness — a  man 
of  decision  of  character. 

By  the  authority  of  God,  the  minister  is  the 
shejjherd  of  his  flock.  He  is  their  leader;  and,  to 
be  successful  in  his  work,  he  must  be  a  bold  and 
fearless  man.  The  great  Luther,  when  he  com- 
menced his  theses,  said  to  the  Pope,  "I  stand  on 
this.  And  standing  on  this,  I  am  stronger  than 
3'ou.  I  stand  solitary,  friendless;  but  on  God's 
truth.  You,  with  your  tiaras,  triple-hats,  with 
your  treasuries  and  armories,  thunders  spiritual 
and  temporal,  stand  on  the  devil's  lie,  and  are 
not  strong."  And  a  great  writer  once  said,  "An 
army  of  stags  with  a  lion  at  the  head,  is  more 
powerful  than  an  army  of  lions  with  a  stag  at  the 
head." 

We  do  not  mean  that  the  preacher  is  to  be  a 
tyrant — far  from  it;  for  there  is  nothing  more 
disgusting  in  the  character  of  a  gospel  minister 
than  a  disposition  to  "lord  it  over  God's  heritage." 
Nov  do  we   mean   that  he  is  to   be  a  scolding, 


76  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

abusive  preacher;  for  8iicli  a  minister  rarely,  if 
ever,  does  any  good.  He  may  use  most  bitter  in- 
vectives; but  they  hurt  no  one  else  half  so  badly 
as  they  do  himself  They  simply  blister  his  own 
tongue.  The  chief  effect  which  such  a  course  has 
upon  others  is  to  cause  them  to  be  amazed  that  a 
servant  of  God  can  consent  to  permit  himself  to 
be  the  medium  through  which  the  spirit  of  Satan 
may  vex  and  annoy  the  body  of  Christ.  There 
are  (it  gives  us  pain  to  so  say)  some  ministers  who 
appear  to  think  that  it  is  their  prerogative  to  thus 
t3a\annize  over  their  people.  They,  it  would  seem, 
have  conceived  the  idea  that,  unless  they  do  so, 
their  authority  would  not  be  recognized;  but 
there  is  scarcely  any  thing  more  degrading  to  the 
sacred  profession,  nor  is  there  scarcely  any  thing 
with  which  a  membership  should  be  less  tolerant. 
How  disgusting  to  hear  sharp,  snappish,  sarcastic 
remarks  from  the  pulpit!  How  cowardly,  too,  for 
a  man  to  stigmatize  others  when  he  knows  that 
they  have  no  means  of  reply  from  the  same  ros- 
trum! Such  an  ill-tempered  spirit  comes  not  from 
Christ,  but  from  the  devil ;  and  no  congregation 
should  so  far  lose  its  self-respect  as  to  permit  it  to 
be  exhibited  without  Christian  rebuke.  An  un- 
godly spirit  in  the  pulpit  will  work  the  ruin  of 
any  minister,  and  it  is  right  that  it  should  do  it. 
But  the  proposition  is  repeated,  and  with  em- 
phasis, too,  that  a  minister  must  be  a  man  of  great 
firmness — yea,  a  bold,  fearless  man.  Like  Paul 
he  must  at  all  times  be  ready  to  say  to  his  flock, 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  77 

"I  have  not  shunned  to  decUire  unto  you  all  the 
counsel  of  God."  (Acts  xx.  27.)  Sin,  no  differ- 
ence by  whom  committed,  must  be  rebuked.  The 
pulpit  is  not  the  phice  for  timid,  mercenary  men. 
It  must  be.bold  and  outspoken.  The  trumpet  of 
God,  though  it  be  only  a  "  ram's  horn,"  must  give 
no  uncertain  blast,  else  the  walls  of  Jericho  will 
never  fall.  The  vices  and  follies  of  the  age  must 
be  rebuked;  and,  that  this  may  be  done  success- 
fully, the  pulpit  must  send  forth  against  them 
arrows  that  are  sharp  and  j^ungent.  In  doing  this, 
there  may  be  times  when  the  preacher  will  feel  as 
did  the  old  prophet  on  Carmel,  in  the  terrible  con- 
test with  the  priests  of  Baal;  but  the  God  who 
then  '-answered  by  lire  "and  sustained  his  ambas- 
sador, Avill  do  so  7101V,  no  difference  what  may  be 
the  opposing  influences. 

The  Scriptures  represent  the  Church  under  the 
similitude  of  an  army.  The  preacher  is  the  com- 
mander of  that  division  of  it  which  is,  in  the 
providence  of  God,  assigned  to  him;  and  his  suc- 
cess depends  greatly  upon  the  boldness  and  ad- 
ministrative ability  which  he  exhibits.  True,  in 
this  army  there  are  other  officials — elders,  class- 
leaders,  deacons,  etc. — but,  the  preacher  is  the 
^•ranking"  officer.  The  whole  of  his  membership 
is  under  his  control;  and  it  is  his  duty  not  only 
to  organize  his  forces,  but  to  put  every  soldier  in 
his  proper  j^lace.  As  in  a  temporal  so  in  a 
sx^iritual  army,  there  are  some  whom  it  is  diffi- 
cult to  manage.     Still,  it  must  be  done,  and  the 


78  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

minister  is  the  proper  one  to  do  it;  but  it  should, 
by  all  means,  be  done  in  the  spirit  of  Christ, 
and  not  in  the  spirit  of  Satan.  Nathan  said  to 
David,  •'  Thou  art  the  man  ";  but  he  did  not  abuse 
and  vilify  him  personally.  The  great;point  with 
the  former  was  to  show  what  a  great  sin  the  latter 
had  committed.     (See  2  Sam.  xii.  4.) 

It  is  a  fact  which  cannot  be  denied,  that  men 
have  more  respect  for  a  bold,  fearless  minister — 
for  a  minister  who  is  more  afraid  of  God  than  of 
man.  Illustrative  of  this  position,  we  cite  the 
case  of  Latimer  with  Henry  VIII.,  King  of  Eng- 
land. When  the  latter  had  interdicted  the  free 
circulation  of  the  Scriptures,  the  former  wrote 
him  a  ^'plain-spoken  letter,"  remonstrating  with 
him  for  what  he  had  done.  The  grand  old 
preacher  feared  God  more  than  he  feared  the 
king.  "Latimer,  Latimer,"  he  exclaimed,  at  the 
beginning  of  one  of  his  sermons,  ''Thou  art  going 
to  speak  before  the  high  and  mighty  King  Henry 
YIIL,  who  is  able,  if  he  think  fit,  to  take  thy  life 
away.  Be  careful  what  thou  sayest.  But  Latimer, 
Latimer,  remember  also  thou  art  about  to  speak 
before  the  'King  of  kings,  and  Lord  of  lords.' 
Take  heed  that  thou  dost  not  displease  him." 
True,  his  opposition  to  ungodly  rulers,  and  to  the 
"Man  of  Sin,"  whose  pliant  tools  these  rulers 
were,  cost  Latimer  his  life,  for  he  was  burned  at 
the  stake;  but  it  will  require  the  annals  of  this 
world  and  of  the  world  to  come  to  reveal  the 
good  which  the  fearlessness  of  Latimer  accom- 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  79 

plished.  x^o  wonder,  therefore,  that  he  could,  as 
if  inspired  by  prophetic  vision,  say  to  Eidley, 
w^ho  was  his  fellow-martyr,  "Be  not  afraid  of  the 
flames,  my  brother;  for  we  shall  this  day  light 
such  a  c^yidle  in  England  as  shall  never  be  put 
out." 

An  incident,  it  is  said,  occurred  in  this  country 
a  number  of  years  ago  which  illustrates  the  same 
thing.  At  one  period  of  his  life  General  Andrew 
Jackson  was  passionately  fond  of  horse-racing 
and  cock-fighting — would  not  only  attend  the 
•'race  ground,"  and  the  "pit,"  but  would  wager 
large  sums  of  money.  A  bold,  fearless  old  minis- 
ter, wdio  had  a  regular  monthly  appointment  in 
the  vicinity  of  the  Hermitage  (Jackson's  home), 
announced  that,  on  a  certain  Sabbath,  he  would 
preach  a  sermon  on  the  corrupt  and  demoralizing 
iiiflucnces  of  horse-racing  and  cock-fighting. 
When  the  day  arrived,  a  large  crowd  gathered; 
and  among  the  number  was  Gen.  Jackson.  The 
officials  of  the  Church,  when  they  saw  the  distin- 
guished auditor  in  the  congregation,  went  to  the 
minister  and  pleaded  with  him  to  abandon  his 
purpose — said  to  him,  Gen.  Jackson  is  not  only  a 
great  man,  but  a  dangerous  man.  The  man  of  God, 
however,  said,  "I  will  not  change  my  purpose. 
Gen.  Jackson  knew  of  this  appointment;  and  I 
take  it  for  granted,  by  his  presence,  that  he  wishes 
to  hear  a  sermon  of  the  kind  w^hich  I  propose  to 
preach.  8Lill,  whether  this  is  so  or  not,  I  am  not 
afraid  of  Gen.  Jackson  ;  but  I  am  afraid  of  God. 


80  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

My  commission  is  from  Ileavon,  and  that  commis- 
sion authorizes  me  to  make  war  upon  all  sin,  no 
ditterence  by  whom  committed.  Gen.  Jackson 
has  no  more  right  to  sin  against  God  than  has  the 
humblest  man  in  this  community — mijy,  if  any 
distinction  is  to  be  made,  he  has  less  right  to  do 
so,  because  of  his  great  name  and  influence." 

The    minister,    ''nothing    daunted,"    therefore, 
preached  the  sermon;  and  it  is  said  that  it  was  a 
severe  one,  too,  against  the  sins  to  which  refer- 
ence has  been  made.     It  is  also  said   that  Gen. 
Jackson  was  one  of  the  most  respectful  and  at- 
tentive listeners    in    that   audience — sat   quietly, 
and    heard   the    whole    of    the    discourse.     That 
afternoon   the  minister  went  to  the  home  of  one 
of  his  humblest  members  for  the  purpose  of  spend- 
ino-  the  niij-ht.     Next  mornina:,  lust  about  the  time 
the  preacher  was  preparing  to  leave,  the  family 
looked  out  and  saw  Gen.  Jackson  riding  toward 
the  cabin.     The  ''man  of  the  house"  said  to  the 
minister,  "Leave  as  quickly  as  possible;  for  the 
CJeneral,  I  fear,  is  coming  to  seek  a  dilficulty  with 
you."     The  preacher  re])lied,  "I  will  not  leave; 
jor  I  am  not  afraid  of  Gen.  Jackson  and  the  devil, 
when    1  have  God  and  the  Bible  on  my  side." 
But,  instead  of  seeking  a  ditliculty  with  the  min- 
ister.   Gen.    Jackson    raised    his    hat,    took    the 
preacher   by   the   hand,   and    said,   "Sir,   I   had 
started  to  the  city  [Nashville],  and  learning  that 
you  were  here,  I  came  out  of  ni}^  way  to  thank 
you  for  that  sermon  on  yesterday.     You  preached 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  81 

tlie  trutli,  and  J  trust  that  it  will  be  of  great  serv- 
ice to  me  in  all  time  to  come." 

jSTow,  whether  that  sermon  was  the  cause  of  the 
radical  reformation  which  occurred  soon  after,  we 
will  not  affirm;  but  it  is  a  fact  of  history  that  the 
change  did  take  place;  and  it  is  also  a  fact  of  his- 
tory that  Gen.  Jackson  became  a  Christian,  and 
''died  in  the  faith."  No  wonder,  therefore,  that 
one  having  such  profound  respect  for  the  Bible 
and  the  ministry,  would,  years  after  this  incident 
occurred,  when  he  was  President  of  the  United 
States,  refuse  to  give  a  minister  of  the  gospel  an 
appointment,  saying  to  the  applicant,  "Sir,  you 
hold,  already,  a  higher  commission  than  I  can 
give  you — a  commission  from  God  himself — there- 
fore, go  and  fulfill  boldly  and  fearlessly  the  duties 
of  that  commission." 

Let  no  one  misunderstand  what  is  meant  by 
ministerial  firmness.  AVe  do  not,  of  course,  mean 
that  the  preacher  should  be  impudent  and  forward; 
nor  do  we  mean  that  he  should  use  coarse  and 
uncouth  language  in  rebuking  sin.  On  the  con- 
trary, let  him,  while  he  fearlessly  condemns  that 
which  is  wrong,  utter  those  words  of  rebuke  in 
kindness  and  not  in  wrath.  Like  Paul,  let  him 
do  so  "weeping."  (See  Phil.  iii.  18.)  Sin  cannot 
be  rectified  by  sin.  There  is  an  old  proverb 
which  says,  "If  a  father  punishes  his  son  for 
swearing,  and  swears  himself  while  he  punishes 
him,  he  does  more  harm  by  his  example  than  he 
does  good  by  his  correction.''  While,  therefore, 
G 


82  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

the  preacher  endeavors  to  set  things  right,  he 
must  see  to  it  that  he  does  not  set  them  wrong  by 
an  ungodly  spirit.  Those  tears  of  Paul  not  only 
gave  vehemence  and  force  to  his  remonstrance, 
but  sent  that  remonstrance  to  the  hearts  of  those  to 
whom  he  spake — yea,  made  it  effectual  because  of 
the  tenderness  with  which  it  was  uttered.  Much, 
therefore,  depends  upon  the  7nannerin  which  a  min- 
ister reproves  the  sins  and  follies  of  his  flock.  There 
may  arise  cases  when,  like  his  Master,  he  may  oc- 
casionally denounce  "hypocrites"  and  "genera- 
tion of  vipers";  but,  like  that  same  blessed 
Master,  he  should  administer  the  most  of  his  rep- 
rimands in  words  of  kindness  and  clemency — "O 
Jerusalem,  Jerusalem,"  etc.,  etc. 

To  many  ministers  it  is  a  sore  trial  to  confront 
sins  which  are  indulged  in  by  the  prominent 
members  of  their  Churches;  but  it  should  not  be 
so.  Sin  is  sin,  no  difference  by  whom  committed ; 
and  that  minister  will  be  most  respected  who  will 
show  no  "favor  or  affection"  in  this  particular. 
It  is  better,  infinitely  better,  to  have  a  small 
Church,  with  a  membership  whose  lives  "adorn 
the  gospel  they  profess,"  than  to  have  a  member- 
ship of  five  hundred,  one  half  or  more  of  whom 
are  moral  lepers  who  have  never  bathed  in  Be- 
thesda's  waters,  nor  received  a  touch  from  the 
blessed  Saviour's  band,  accomjianied  with  the 
words,  "I  will,  be  thou  clean."  True,  such  firm- 
ness as  we  are  commending  may  cost  a  minister 
his  place;  but  it  would  bo  hotter  for  it  to  cost  him 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  83 

his  head,  as  it  did  John  the  Baptist,  than  for  him, 
like  Peter,  to  deny  his  Lord  and  -Master.  It  is 
not  always  the  most  j)leasant  part  of  a  physician's 
work  to  search  into  the  causes  of  disease,  but  it 
must  be  done;  and  it  is  sometimes  indispensably 
necessary  to  use  both  the  probe  and  the  knife. 

9.  He  must  visit  his  flock  —  must  "mix  and 
mingle"  with   his  people. 

It  was  a  pithy  saying  of  an  old  divine,  that  a 
preacher  had  three  books  to  study — the  Bible, 
himself,  and  the  people  One  of  our  most  gifted 
poets,  too,  has  said,  that  "the  proper  study  of 
mankind  is  man."  If  this  latter  assertion  be  true 
in  reference  to  the  duty  of  mankind  in  general, 
how  much  more  so  is  it  in  relation  to  the  minister 
of  the  gospel?  So  to  sjDeak,  human  nature  is  the 
principal  ingredient  or  staple  upon  which  the 
l^reacher  is  to  operate;  and  to  do  so  successfully 
he  must  study  it  thoroughly,  not  from  books 
alone,  but  from  "original  models" — the  people. 
We  scarcely  need  say,  this  can  only  be  done  by 
"mixing  and  mingling"  with  his  flock.  Indeed, 
to  insure  success  in  his  work,  a  knowledge  of  the 
human  heart  is  almost  as  necessary  to  a  minister 
as  that  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures. 

The  duty  upon  which  we  are  insisting  was  not 
only  sanctioned,  but  sedulously  performed  by 
Christ  himself  It  is  said  of  him  that  he  "  came 
not  to  be  ministered  unto,  but  to  minister."  He 
neglected  no  class  or  condition  of  society;   and 


84  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

we  are  not  astonished,  therefore,  that  the  j^^^ojjle 
heard  him  ghxdly."  What  a  busy  life  he  led! 
He  traveled  over  the  hills  and  valleys  of  Pales- 
tine on  foot.  He  preached  in  the  -temple  and  in 
the  synagogues;  on  the  mountain-side  and  by  the 
sea-shore;  to  vast  crowds  and  to  single  individ- 
uals. Indeed,  one  of  the  most  powerful  discourses 
he  ever  delivered  was  the  one  preached  to  the 
Samaritan  woman,  as  he  sat  by  Jacob's  well. 

The  ajiostles,  likewise,  did  a  vast  amount  of 
such  work.  It  is  recorded  of  Paul  tiiat  he  taught 
"from  house  to  house,"  and  that  he  "ceased  not 
to  warn  every  one  night  and  day  with  tears." 
This  great  Apostle,  together  with  all  the  others, 
seemed  to  recognize  the  fact  that  his  public  eflforts 
might  be  almost  a  failure,  unless  they  were  accom- 
panied by  private  admonitions.  Not  only  the 
apostles,  and  their  successors  for  several  centuries, 
gave  special  "heed  to  the  flock,"  but  the  Christian 
ministry  of  every  age  has  done  the  same  thing. 
If  we  read  the  utterances  made  by  those  extraor- 
dinary men  who  produced  the  Eeformation,  we 
w^ill  find  their  sentiments  not  only  freely  but  em- 
phatically expressed  upon  this  important  subject. 
We  have  not  the  space  to  insert  them,  but  they 
are  as  pronounced  as  language  can  make  them. 

The  necessity  for  this  kind  of  ministerial  labor 
can  be  expressed  in  the  following  brief  summary : 

(a)  Pastoral  visitation  is  necessary  in  order 
that  the  minister  may  know  the  wants  of  his 
people. 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  85 

AVithont  such  knowledge  the  best  pulpit  efforts 
will  fail  to  have  that  directness  which  they  should 
possess,  in  order  that  "each  may  have  his  por- 
tion." A  physician  must  know  the  condition  of 
his  j^atients  before  he  can  prescribe  for  them.  A 
teacher  must  understand  fully  the  advancement 
of  his  pupils  before  he  can  be  profitable  to  them 
as  an  instructor.  The  same  is  true  in  regard  to 
the  preacher.  New  Year  calls  and  visits  of  cere- 
mony are  good  as  far  as  they  go;  but  they  do  not 
go  far  enough.  On  such  occasions  people  are  re- 
served— are  "on  their  manners";  and,  therefore, 
these  are  not  appropriate  times  and  places  for  re- 
ligious conversation  and  spiritual  improvement. 
Unless  the  minister  visits  his  people  at  their  own 
homes,  what  can  he  know  of  their  peculiarities 
and  wants?  All  shades  of  characters,  and  all 
stages  of  religious  development,  are  compre- 
hended under  one  pastoral  care;  and  how  is  the 
preacher  to  know  these  differences,  and  to  admin- 
ister properly  to  them,  unless,  like  his  Master,  he 
"  searches  them  out"?  In  a  word,  he  must  pene- 
trate beneath  an  outside  acquaintance  with  his 
people  if  he  would  learn  of  and  administer  to  their 
real  wants. 

(b)  It  is  essential  in  order  that  he  may  gain  the 
good-will  and  sympathy  of  his  flock. 

Quintilian  says,  "The  first  requisite  for  an 
orator  is  to  gain  the  good-will  of  his  audience." 
For  a  minister  to  do  this,  there  is  no  method  equal 
to  that  of  2^ersonal  acquaintance.    This,  too,  should 


86  PLLPIT    AND    PEW. 

be  so  thorough  that  lie  can  at  all  times  recognize 
each  one  of  them.  The  blessed  Saviour  says, 
"The  good  shej^herd  calleth  his  sheep  by  name." 
This  shows  that  the  minister  is  not  to  neglect  any 
that  are  in  the  fold.  Unfortunately,  there  is  not 
only  "a  gulf  fixed"  between  the  capitalist  and 
the  laborer — between  the  higher  and  lower 
classes — ^but  it  is  an  ever- widening  and  an  ever- 
deepening  gulf  No  man  on  earth  can  do  as 
much  to  change  or  modify  the  width  and  depth 
of  this  gulf  as  the  minister  of  the  gospel.  The 
masses  are  disposed  to  identify  him  with  the 
higher  class  of  society.  This  class,  they  know, 
contributes  the  principal  part  of  the  preacher's 
salary,  and  has  a  controlling  influence  in  procur- 
ing his  services.  The  masses  also  recognize  the 
fact  that  the  minister's  culture,  deportment,  dress, 
etc.,  qualify  him  for  association  with  the  more 
polished  class  of  society;  and,  because  of  these 
things,  they  are  prone  to  feel  that  he  is  not  one  of 
them.  With  proper  care,  however,  these  diffi- 
culties can  all  be  removed.  But  the  only  way  to 
remove  them  is  for  the  minister  to  visit  them, 
and  prove  to  them  by  his  words  and  deeds  of 
kindness  that  he  is  their  friend.  He  must  walk 
side  by  side  w^ith  them,  sit  down  with  them  in 
their  humble  homes,  and  partake  of  their  plain 
but  wholesome  food.  lie  must  let  them  feel  the 
throbbings  of  a  brother's  heart;  must  take  their 
hands  in  his ;  and  show  a  willingness  to  help  them 
bear  their  burdens  and  sorrows.     The   minister 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  87 

who  acts  tJius  will  not  only  follow  the  teaching 
and  example  of  Christ;  but  he  will  break  down 
those  prejudfces  which,  unfortunately,  are  too 
often  found  existing  between  what  are  called  the 
"upper  and  lower  classes  "^will  have  the  pleasure 
of  seeing,  so  far  as  religion  is  concerned,  that  "  all 
are  one  in  Christ  Jesus,"  and  that  "the  rich  and 
poor  meet  together  "  in  the  house  of  Cod.  Indeed, 
when  the  minister  is  seen  only  in  the  pulpit  on 
Sabbath,  he  is  still  a  stranger;  but  when  he  visits 
his  peoj^le  in  their  homes,  and  enters  into  their 
joys  and  sorrows — weeping  with  those  that  weep, 
and  rejoicing  with  those  that  rejoice — then  he  is 
no  longer  a  stranger,  but  is  sincerely  trusted  and 
tenderly  loved.  Every  one  regards  him  as  his 
personal  friend,  because  he  proves  by  hie  conduct 
that  he  seeks  the  good  of  all  whom  he  visits. 

(c)  This  private  visiting  is  necessary  in  order 
to  see  the  effects  of  his  public  efforts. 

A  good  general,  immediately  after  every  battle, 
surveys  the  field  to  see  what  has  been  done — to 
see  who  have  escaped  unhurt;  how  many  have 
been  struck;  the  character  of  the  wounds;  the 
attention  they  need,  etc.  A  minister  of  the 
gospel  should  do  the  same  thing — should  survey 
his  parish,  and  promptly  administer  the  reme- 
dies which  are  needed.  Truth  from  the  pulpit 
may  touch  the  heart;  but  unless  private  conver- 
sation presses  that  truth  upon  the  hearer  for  his 
prompt  action,  a  wind  of  tem2:>tation,  a  breath  of 
worldly  influence  may  counteract  and  destroy  all 


88  PULPIT   AND    PEW. 

the  good  which  was  accomj^lished  by  the  sermon. 
Too  many  ministers,  though  they  preach  witli 
"the  power  and  demonstration  of  the  truth"  on 
Sabbath,  yet,  during  the  coming  week,  they  suffer 
the  birds  of  the  air  to  devour  the  seed  sown,  or 
the  cares  of  the  world  to  choke  it,  thereby  utterly 
losing  the  effects  of  their  pulpit  services. 

The  farmer  does  not  sow  the  seed,  and  then 
give  the  field  no  further  attention.  If  the  crop 
is  growing,  he  takes  great  delight  in  looking  at 
it — will  see  to  it  that  it  is  properly  inclosed  and 
protected — will  give  all  necessary  culture  by  re- 
moving noxious  plants;  and  loves  to  think  of 
harvest  time.  So  with  the  faithful  pastor,  whose 
business  it  is  to  see  to  the  growth  of  the  spiritual 
work  committed  to  his  culture. 

The  Saviour  directed  Peter  to  feed  the  "lambs" 
as  well  as  the  "sheep";  and  that  command  is  just 
as  obligatory  u2:>on  the  minister  of  this  day  as  it 
was  at  the  time  it  was  issued.  The  "good  Shep- 
herd," when  he  was  upon  earth,  exhibited  a  most 
tender  regard  for  children;  for  "he  took  them  in 
his  arms  and  blessed  them,  and  said,  of  such  is 
the  kingdom  of  heaven."  It  is  a  fact,  too,  which 
has  not  escaj^ed  observation,  that  the  most  success- 
ful ministers  have  been  those  who  gave  special 
attention  to  the  "lambs  of  the  flock."  There  is  a 
reason  for  this:  the  aged  are  but  few  in  any  con- 
gregation; those  in  middle  life  are  more  numer- 
ous; but  the  youth  are  the  most  numerous  of  any 
class.     Indeed,  the  youth  are  the  power  "behind 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  89 

the  throne,"  not  only  in  the  State,  but  in  the 
Church.  Often — yea,  generally — the  nearest  way 
to  the  hearts  of  .parents  is  through  their  children. 
The  remark  of  Themistocles  is  to  the  point.  He 
said  of  his  little  son,  "This  child  is  greater  than 
any  man  in  Greece;  for  the  Athenians  command 
the  Greeks,  I  command  the  Athenians,  his  mother 
commands  me,  and  he  commands  his  mother." 

(cZ)  It  will  give  to  the  minister  man}"  impor- 
tant thoughts  which  he  can  embody  into  his  ser- 
mons. 

The  masses  may  not  be  as  highl}'  cultivated  as 
the  preacher;  but  he  will  not  fail  to  encounter 
many  bold  and  vigorous  minds — men  and  women 
of  strong  native  intellect,  who  not  only  think  for 
themselves,  but  think  in  original  channels.  The 
words  which  they  utter  may  not  always  be  "good 
English";  but  the  thoughts  which  they  advance 
are  gems — yea,  unburnished  gold.  To  the  minis- 
ter these  unpolished  thoughts  are  what  the  crude 
block  of  marble  is  to  the  sculptor.  All  that  is 
necessary  in  either  case  is  for  the  '•  master  work- 
man" to  put  his  chisel  upon  the  "rough  ashlar," 
and  dress  it  into  shape.  The  fact  is,  great  origi- 
nality of  thought  is  often  found  in  the  humblest 
walks  of  life.  The  Spirit  of  God,  the  best  of  all 
commentator^and  the  wisest  of  all  interpreters 
of  truth,  dwells  in  the  hovel  as  well  as  the  palace. 
Much,  then,  may  be  learned  without  books.  And, 
as  we  all  know,  living  teachers  are  better  than 
dead  ones.     There  is,  without  doubt,  a  peculiar 


90  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

magic  ill  the  voice  of  living  wisdom.  The  blessed 
Bible  expresses  the  thought  in  a  single  sentence, 
when  it  says,  "Iron  sharpeneth  iron." 

On  this  point,  however,  a  word  of  caution  may 
not  be  out  of  place.  As  a  general  thing,  it  is  the 
ideas  and  not  the  conversations  which  a  minister 
raaj  use.  When  he  attempts  to  employ  the  latter 
there  is  danger  of  exaggeration — danger  of  per- 
verting the  truth.  And,  as  has  been  stated  else- 
where in  this  little  volume,  there  is  scarcely  any 
thing  more  injurious  to  raiinisterial  character  than 
for  him  to  acquire  the  reputation  of  general  want 
of  candor;  or  of  inaccuracy  and  looseness  of 
statement;  or  of  being  a  man  who  is  prone  to 
exaggerate.  Such  a  course  will,  sooner  or  later, 
undermine  and  destroy  the  rej^utation  of  any 
minister. 

(e)  Such  visiting  is  of  great  advantage  to  the 
spiritual  condition  of  both  2:>i*eacher  and  j^eople. 

All  of  us,  perhaps,  have  read  the  story  of  the 
traveler  who,  in  crossing  the  Alps,  found  a  man 
almost  buried  in  the  snow.  The  traveler  himself 
w^as  very  cold,  and  the  first  impulse  was  to  "pass 
by"  the  sufferer;  but,  on  the  "sober  second 
thought,"  he  resolved,  if  possible,  to  relieve  him. 
He,  therefore,  dismounted,  and  with  all  his  might 
he  began  to  rub  the  cold  and  almoi^  frozen  limbs 
of  the  sufferer,  at  the  same  time  whispering  words 
of  encouragement  in  his  ear.  The  result  was,  he 
not  only  restored  the  djdng  man,  but  warmed  and 
invigorated  his  own  cold  and  shivering  frame  by 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  91 

the  friction  which  he  used  in  saving  the  perishing 
man — each  benefited  the  other. 

It  is  just  so  in  religions  life.  Christian  contact 
never  fails  to  do  good.  '^None  of  us  livcth  to 
himself."  The  prophet  IMalachi,  in  his  day,  said, 
"  They  that  feared  the  Lord  spake  often  one  to 
another.'  (Mai.  iii.  16.)  Infinite,  almost,  are  the 
sorrows  and  necessities  of  the  human  heart;  and 
in  our  doubts  and  troubles  how  we  long  for  succor 
and  encouragement  from  each  other.  There  are 
times  when  a  gentle  look,  or  a  kind  word  will 
lift  a  burden  from  the  heart,  and  put  sunshine  into 
the  soul  for  days  and  weeks — yea,  perhaps  for  life! 

Other  arguments  of  a  similar  nature  might  be 
presented,  showing  the  importance  of  pastoral 
visitation;  but  we  prefer  to  introduce  corrobora- 
tive testimony  bearing  upon  this  point.  We  have 
space  for  only  a  limited  amount  from  the  "great 
cloud  of  witnesses."  Doddridge,  in  taking  charge 
of  a  Church  said,  "I  now  resolve  to  take  a  more 
particular  account  of  the  souls  committed  to  my 
care;  to  visit,  as  soon  as  possible,  the  whole  con- 
gregation, to  learn  more  particularly  the  circum- 
stances of  them,  their  children  and  servants;  to 
make  as  exact  a  list  as  I  can  of  those  that  I  have 
reason  to  believe  are  unconverted,  awakened,  con- 
verted, fit  for  communion,  or  already  in  it;  to 
visit  and  talk  with  my  people  w^hen  I  hear  any 
thing  in  particular  relating  to  their  religious 
state;  to  be  especially  careful  to  visit  the  sick;  to 
begin  immediately  with  the  inspection  of  those 


92  PULPIT   AND    PEW. 

under  my  own  roof,  that  I  may  with  the  greater 
freedom  urge  other  familien  to  like  care.  O,  my 
soul,  thy  account  is  great!"  The  biographer  of 
Dr.  Chalmers  thus  speaks  of  him:  "Not  satisfied 
with  merely  proclaiming  the  doctrines  of  the 
gospel  from  the  pulpit  on  the  Sabbath,  not  satis- 
fied even  with  putting  into  tliat  presentation  all 
the  energy  of  his  regal  intellect,  and  the  enthu- 
siasm of  his  affectionate  heart,  gathering  about 
the  truth  all  ornaments  of  scholarship,  and  im- 
pressing it  by  appeals  most  clear  and  pointed,  as 
by  arguments  whose  weight  and  pressure  have 
rarely  been  surpassed — he  labored  also  to  carry 
it  familiarly  from  house  to  house  throughout  the 
week.  He  interested  himself  personally  and 
warmly  in  the  families  of  his  parish.  He  knew 
the  children  and  the  aged,  as  well  as  the  active  of 
middle  life.  He  knew  the  circumstances,  charac- 
teristics, and  history  of  his  people.  And  he  was 
always  ready  with  his  word  of  counsel,  his  sug- 
gestive, practical,  or  doctrinal  instruction,  his  free 
j)resentation  of  Christ,  and  his  fitness  for  the  soul. 
He  aimed  and  desired  to  have  his  speech  to  dis- 
till as  the  dew,  in  tli^  constant  day-to-day  inter- 
course of  life.  He  meant  to  speak  to  his  people 
through  his  example  as  well  as  through  his  words; 
and  whenever  a  case  occurred  of  special  difficulty, 
requiring  peculiar  tact  and  skill  in  its  manage- 
ment, it  was  affecting  to  see  with  what  earnestness 
of  thought,  with  what  fervor  of  ]n'ayer  this  noble 
and  shining  mind  devoted  itself  to  the  work  of 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  93 

enlightening  the  ignorant,  or  of  cheering^  the 
downcast,  or  of  impressing  and  awakening  the 
long  impenitent." 

If  we  would  see  the  effects  of  faithful  pastoral 
work,  we  have  only  to  read  the  Life  of  Baxter. 
Says  Mr.  Ryle,  in  speaking  of  this  extraordinary 
man:  "Another  thing  you  must  know,  that  Bax- 
ter was  one  of  the  most  successful  pastors  of  a 
parish  and  congregation  that  ever  lived.  When 
he  came  to  Kidderminster  he  found  it  a  dark, 
ignorant,  immoral,  irreligious  place,  containing, 
perhaps,  three  thousand  inhabitants.  When  he 
left  it  at  the  end  of  fourteen  years  he  had  com- 
pletely turned  the  parish  upside  down  'The 
place  before  his  coining,'  says  Dr.  Bates, '  was  like 
a  piece  of  dry  and  barren  earth ;  but,  by  the 
blessing  of  Heaven  upon  his  labor,  the  face  of 
paradise  appeared  there.  The  bad  were  changed 
to  good,  and  the  good  to  better.'  The  number  of 
his  regular  communicants  averaged  six  hundred. 
'Of  these,'  Baxter  tells  us,  'there  Avere  not  twelve 
of  whom  I  had  not  good  hope  as  to  their  sincerity.* 
The  Lord's  day  was  thoroughly  reverenced  and 
observed.  It  was  said,  'you  might  have  heard  an 
hundred  families  singing  psalms  and  repeating 
sermons  as  you  passed  through  the  streets.' 
When  he  came  there  there  w\as  about  one  family 
in  a  street  which  worshiped  God  at  home.  When 
he  went  away  there  were  some  streets  in  which 
there  was  not  more  than  one  family  on  a  side  that 
did  not  do  it:  and  this  was  the  case  even  with 


94  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

inns  and  public-bouses.  Even  of  tbe  irreb'gious 
i'amilies,  tbere  were  very  few  wbieb  bad  not  some 
converted  relations.  'Some  of  tbe  poor  people 
became  so  well  versed  in  tbeology  tbat  tbey  un- 
derstood tbe  wbole  body  of  divinity,  and  were 
able  to  judge  difficult  controversies.  Some  were 
so  able  in  prayer  tbat  few  ministers  could  matcb 
tliem  in  ardor,  fullness,  apt  expressions,  boly  ora- 
tory, and  fervor.'  Tbe  grand  instrument  to  wbicb 
Baxter  used  to  attribute  tbis  astounding  success 
was  bis  system  of  bousebold  visitation  and  reg- 
ular private  conference  witb  bis  parisbioners. 
No  doubt  tbis  did  immense  good,  and  tbe  more  so 
because  it  was  a  new  tbing  in  tbose  days.  Never- 
tbeless,  tbere  is  no  denying  tbe  fact  tbat  tbe  most 
elaborate  parocbial  macbinery  of  modern  times 
bas  never  produced  sucb  effects  as  tbose  you  bave 
just  beard  of  at  Kidderminster.  And  tbe  true 
account  of  tbis  I  believe  to  be,  tbat  no  parisb  bas 
ever  bad  sucb  a  wonderful  mainsj^ring  in  tbe 
middle  of  it  as  Baxter  was.  Wbile  some  divines 
were  wrangling  over  tbe  divine  rigbt  of  Episco- 
pacy and  Presbytery,  or  sjDlitting  bairs  about 
reprobation  and  free-will,  Baxter  was  always 
visiting  from  bouse  to  bouse,  and  beseecbing  men, 
for  Cbrist's  sake,  to  be  reconciled  to  God  and  flee 
from  tbe  wratb  to  come.  Wbile  otbers  were  en- 
tangling tbemselves  in  politics,  and  burying  tbeir 
dead  amid  tbe  potsberds  of  tbe  eartb,  Baxter 
was  living  a  crucified  life,  and  daily  preacbing 
tbe  gospel." 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  95 

Id  conclusion,  then,  upon  this  topic,  let  every 
minister  who  reads  these  pages  resolve  that,  by 
Grod's  assistance,  he  will  be  more  faithful  in  pas- 
toral visitation.  The  experience  of  the  Church 
in  all  the  past  ages  of  its  history  demonstrates 
the  fact  that,  other  things  being  equal,  that  minis- 
ter accomplishes  most  who  comes  into  closest 
personal  contact  with  his  people.  No  amount  of 
organizing,  no  skill  in  forming  and  managing 
'•committees"  is  a  substitute  for  this.  The  min- 
ister who  would  be  like  the  Master  must  do  as  he 
did — touch  the  leper  with  his  own  hand;  and  if 
he  would  raise  the  dead  to  spiritual  life,  the  tears 
must  be  in  his  own  eyes.  And,  like  his  great 
Exemplar,  let  him  be  especially  kind  to  the  poor — 
go  to  the  humble  families  of  Bethany  as  well  as 
to  the  palaces  of  the  wealthy.  As  Paul  expresses 
it,  "  Take  heed  therefore  unto  yourselves,  and  to  all 
the  flock,  over  the  which  the  Holy  Grhost  hath 
made  you  overseers,  to  feed  the  Church  of  God, 
which  he  hath  purchased  with  his  own  blood." 
(Acts  XX.  28.) 
• 

10.  He  should  be  a  man  of  great  prudence. 

Prudence  is  a  most  important  requisite  of  the 
sacred  office.  AYithout  it,  learning,  eloquence, 
and  even  piety  itself  can  accomplish  but  little. 
A  minister  not  only  comes  in  contact  with  all 
grades  of  society,  but  with  all  shades  of  public 
opinion.  It  is  not  by  pulpit  efforts  alone  that  the 
preacher   is   to   do   good.     Mankind    are    better 


96  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

jnclo-es  of  conduct  than  of  sermons — are  better 
versed  in  the  proprieties  of  life  than  in  the 
science  of  theology.  Hence,  in  those  emblemat- 
ical representations  which  we  have  in  the  Sacred 
Scriptures  of  ministers  of  the  gospel,  we  find 
much  to  interest  and  instruct  us.  With  the  face 
of  the  lion,  of  the  eagle,  and  of  the  ox,  in  those 
symbolical  figures,  the  face  of  a  man  is  alwaj^s 
conjoined.  If  the  face  of*  a  lion  denotes  that  the 
minister  should  have  boldness  and  courage;  if 
that  of  the  ox,  that  he  should  have  patience  and 
fitness  for  labor;  if  that  of  the  eagle,  that  he 
should  have  a  clear  and  penetrating  insight  into 
the  truths  of  the  Bible;  so  the  face  of  a  man  de- 
notes that  he  should  be  eminently  endowed  with 
prudence  and  sagacity. 

In  the  Levitical  law,  it  was  required  that  the 
sacrifice  for  the  sin  of  a  priest  should  be  no  less 
than  was  offered  for  all  Israel,  which,  at  that  time, 
consisted  of  millions  of  souls.  (See  Lev.  ix.  3-14.) 
And  who  knows  but  God  may  exact  for  the  sin 
of  a  minister  a  punishment,  as  he  did  a  sacrifice, 
equal  to  what  may  be  inflicted  ujion  the  whole 
congregation  which  that  minister  serves? 

Prudence  is  nearly  equivalent  to  what  is  oiten 
alluded  to  in  the  New  Testament  as  wisdom — 
"warning  and  teaching  every  man  in  all  wis- 
dom"— and  is  a  divine  grace  which,  if  properly 
cultivated,  always  leads  to  wise  speech  as  well  as 
to  discreet  action.  But  it  is  often  the  case  that 
ministers  perpetrate  improprieties  which,  though 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  97 

apparently  insignificant,  greatly  curtail  their  use- 
fulness. Public  sentiment,  in  the  main,  is  quite 
correct  in  its  opinions  in  regard  to  v>hat  consti- 
tutes true  ministerial  decorum;  and  the  preacher 
who  would  dare  transcend  the  boundary  line 
drawn  by  this  public  sentiment,  does  so  at  his 
peril.  Yet  many — yea,  too  many — venture  to 
cross  the  "metes  and  bounds"  thus  fixed.  They 
may,  perhaps,  say  they  defy  public  sentiment  in 
certain  particulars;  but  that  aggravates  rather 
than  palliates  the  offense;  nor  does  it,  in  the  least, 
change  public  sentiment.  There  are  many  things 
which  "a  man  of  the  world"  may  do,  and  which 
even  a  layman  may  do,  which  would  not  be  toler- 
ated in  a  minister  of  the  gospel. 

One  of  the  besetting  sins  to  which  some  minis- 
ters are  addicted  is  their  indiscreet  conversation. 
They  seem  to  think  that  they  are  called  upon  to 
exj^ress  their  sentiments  upon  every  subject,  and 
to  give  their  opinions  freely  in  regard  to  every 
one.  It  is  not  astonishing  that  such  men  are  so 
often  called  upon  "  to  rise  and  explain,"  and  it  is 
not  astonishing  either  that  they  are  so  often  per- 
plexed in  their  efforts  to  "  set  things  right."  Min- 
isters of  this  kind,  who  are  thus  almost  always  em- 
barrassing themselves,  scarcely  know  what  to  do, 
nor  by  what  method  they  can  extricate  themselves 
from  the  perilous  condition  in  which  they  are 
placed.  Like  an  ant  on  a  piece  of  wood,  both 
ends  of  which  are  on  fire,  they  run  "to  and  fro," 
hoj)ing  by  some  means  to  be  relieved  from  the 
7 


98  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

dilemma    in   which    their    own    impnidence   has 
placed  them. 

The  preacher  should  remember  that  there  are 
two  sides  to  almost  every  question ;  and  it  is  a 
matter  of  vital  importance  (if  he  must  take  sides 
at  all)  that  he  shall  be  on  the  right  side.  Hence, 
he  should  always  think,  and  think  soberly  and 
priv^^erfully,  before  he  speaks.  AVhat  a  shame  for 
a  minister  to  allow  himself  to  degenerate  into  a 
gossiper,  a  news-monger — to  be  the  first  to  circu- 
late an  evil  report,  and  to  give  currency  to  un- 
founded statements — to  forsake  his  Bible  and  his 
books,  and  convert  himself  into  a  sort  of  sewer- 
pipe,  through  which  things  "foul  and  filthy"  are 
to  circulate!  Let  others,  if  they  must,  be  the 
tale-bearers,  the  news-mongers,  the  retailers  of 
slander;  but  let  God's  ambassadors  avoid  such 
things  as  they  would  a  life  of  shame  and  a  death 
of  infamy.  The  truth  is,  a  minister,  however  in- 
timate he  may  be  with  the  families  of  his  charge, 
should  never  pry  into  their  private  aifairs  and 
secrets  There  is  a  littleness  and  meanness  in 
such  a  course  that  will  make  any  preacher  con- 
temptible who  will  do  such  a  thing.  True,  he  is 
to  "watch  over  his  flock";  but  he  must  always 
remember  that  he  is  not  a  police  officer.  He  has 
enough  to  do  to  attend  to  his  own  affairs,  in  this 
particular,  without  meddling  with  the  private 
affairs  of  others.  Indeed,  a  prudent  minister 
does  not  want  to  hear  the  secrets  of  his  neighbors 
and  of  his  flock.     They  are  a  troublesome  com- 


PUl.PIT    AND    PEW,  99 

modity  to  have  in  one's  custody.  They  are 
among  the  ten  thousand  things  of  this  ungodly 
world  of  which  it  is  much  more  a  blessing  than  a 
misfortune  to  be  entirely  ignorant.  Protestantism 
neither  knoios  nor  tolerates  the  confessional. 

The  ministerial  j^i'udence  for  which  we  are  con- 
tending has  reference,  also,  to  the  manner  in 
which  a  preacher  deports  himself  in  his  associa- 
tions with  the  other  sex.  If  he  is  a  gentleinan  he 
will  be  as  pure  and  chaste  in  his  feelings  and  con- 
duct in  female  society,  in  general,  as  he  would  bo 
with  his  own  mother  and  sisters.  Not  an  im- 
proper expression  should  escape  his  lips;  nor 
should  he,  under  any  circumstances,  utter  a  word 
that  would  offend  a  lady  of  the  most  delicate  sen- 
sibility. Some,  we  regret  to  say,  are  not  as  care- 
ful in  this  respect  as  they  should  be;  but  pre- 
sume simpl}"  because  they  are  ministers.  The 
credentials  of  a  minister,  however,  grant  no  such 
liberty,  and  he  has  no  right  to  cultivate  and  foster 
a  familiarity  in  conversation  and  in  deportment 
which  is  as  disgusting  to  refined  Christian  society 
as  it  is  disreputable  to  those  wlio  participate  in  it. 
Nothing  improper,  we  grant,  may  be  intended  ; 
but  such  conduct  always  injures  both  parties  in 
public  estimation,  Let  those  who  indulge  in 
such  improper  conduct  remember  that  but  few 
ladies,  and  still  fewer  ministers,  can  outlive  a  tale 
of  slander,  although  it  may  be  false.  Indeed, 
nothing  is  more  hurtful  to  the  cause  of  religion 
than  such  ministerial  lapses.     The  semi-infidelic 


100  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

secular  press  rejoices  at  the  opportunity  of  giving 
publicity  to  such  declensions.  The  devil  and  his 
emissaries  not  only  give  circulation  to  the  affair  in 
the  locality  in  which  it  occurred,  but  they  send 
the  news  all  over  the  land,  even  beyond  the  seas, 
on  the  "lightning's  fiery  wing."  And  nowhere 
v/ill  it  be  repeated  without  doing  mischief  to  the 
cause  of  Christ.  The  consequence  is,  the  minis- 
ter's influence  for  good  is  blasted  for  the  remain- 
ing portion  of  his  life;  for,  go  where  he  may,  the 
news  of  his  downfall  has  preceded  him.  The 
deed  is  done;  and,  like  the  fabled  shirt  of  Nessus, 
it  "sticks"  to  the  unfortunate  man  as  long  as  he 
lives !  The  only  safeguard,  in  such  matters,  is  to 
give  no  ground  for  suspicion. 

To  the  unmarried  ministers — young  men — we 
feel  that  these  words  of  caution  and  admonition, 
in  regard  to  the  other  sex,  cannot  be  too  strongly 
stated.  Some,  there  may  be,  who  delight  to  have 
quite  a  number  of  young  ladies  fascinated  with 
them  at  the  same  time.  Such  an  ambition  is 
basely  unworthy  of  the  sacred  profession;  and 
the  young  minister  who  is  dishonorable  enough 
to  trifle  with  a  woman's  heart  is  not  too  pure  to 
destroy  her  virtue.  He,  of  course,  by  the  laws 
of  God  and  man,  has  a  perfect  right  to  many; 
bi't  he  has  no  right — Divine  or  human — to  dally 
with  a  woman's  affections.  Indeed,  nothing 
scarcely  will  blast  a  young  preacher's  reputation 
and  usefulness  more  quickly  or  more  effectually 
than  for  him  to  establish  a  reputation  of  indis- 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  101 

creetness  in  this  particular.  Let  no  young  min- 
ister, then,  feel  that  it  is  either  expected  or  desired 
that  he  must  have  a  "love  scrape"  with  every 
respectable  young  lady  Avhoni  he  may  meet! 

How  careful  and  prudent,  then,  must  a  minister 
be  in  his  private  life — in  his  daily  associations ! 
He  occupies  a  position  where  it  is  exceedingly 
difficult  to  stand,  and  unspeakably  dangerous  to 
fall.  Hence,  every  step  of  his  life  and  every 
utterance  of  his  lips  should  be  guarded  with  the 
utmost  circumspection.  Not  only  in  his  public 
teaching  but  in  his  private  life,  he  has  great  need 
of  prudence.  His  office  calls  on  him  to  watch 
over  the  spiritual  interests  of  his  people,  to  pre- 
serve or  recover  them  from  sin  and  error,  to  in- 
struct the  ignorant,  excite  the  negligent,  confirm 
the  weak,  comfort  the  afflicted,  satisfy  the  doubt- 
ing, encourage  the  desponding,  and  admonish  the 
disorderly.  It  calls  on  him  to  accommodate  him- 
self to  every  case,  and  to  every  capacity;  so  that, 
if  possible,  he  may  lead  them  to  heaven.  How 
trying  are  the  ordeals  through  which  he  is  to 
pass!  His  position  is  similar,  in  many  respects, 
to  that  of  Moses;  and  he  must  not  be  disappointed 
if  his  trials  partake  of  the  same  nature. 

The  blessed  Saviour  has  set  a  perfect  example 
of  ministerial  prudence.  So  careful  was  he  in  his 
intercourse  with  the  world,  that  he  made  more 
converts  by  his  private  conversations  than  by  his 
public  teachings,  though  he  preached  as  never 
man  preached.     And  those  of  his  ministers  who 


102  rULPlT    AND    PEW. 

imitate  his  example  are  the  ones  who  accomplish 
the  greatest  amount  of  good.  One  of  the  Lord 
Chancellors  of  England  said  to  a  faithful  minister 
Avhom  he  was  prosecuting  and  persecuting,  "Thou 
hast  done  more  harm  by  thy  private  life  and  ex- 
hortations in  prison  than  thou  didst  by  thy 
preaching  before  thou  wast  cast  into  prison." 
On  the  contrary,  that  was  a  severe  rebuke  w^iich 
a  certain  minister  once  received  when  a  sinner 
said  to  him,  "When  I  see  you  in  the  pulpit  I 
think  you  ought  never  to  leave  it;  but  when  I 
see  you  out  of  it,  I  think  you  ought  never  to 
enter  it  again."  Of  how  many  preachers  may  the 
same  thing  be  said? 

Let,  then,  the  prayer  of  every  minister  of  the 
gospel  be  that  of  the  Psalmist,  "Set  a  watch,  0 
Lord,  before  my  mouth ;  keep  the  door  of  my 
lips."     (Ps.  cxli.  3.) 

11.  He  must  indoctrinate  his  j'^eople. 

All  intelligent  action  is  based  upon  principle. 
A  deed  performed,  though  right  in  the  abstract,  is 
destitute  of  virtue,  so  far  as  the  individual  is  con- 
cerned, unless  it  is  done  with  a  conscientious  con- 
viction of  duty.  The  basis  of  duty  is  knowledge — 
doctrine.  This  principle  holds  good,  not  only  in 
regard  to  morals,  but  also  in  reference  to  religion. 
Zeal  which  is  not  "according  to  knowledge,"  is 
not  only  untrustworthy  and  unreliable,  but 
severely  condemned  by  the  word  of  God.  Indeed, 
the  religion  of  the  Bible  is  nothing  without  its 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  103 

truths;  for  by  these  alone  is  it  distinguished  from 
those  false  systems  which  have  blighted  and 
cursed  a  large  portion  of  the  human  race.  It  is 
also  a  fact  which  cannot  be  controverted,  that  the 
convictions  of  a  man  constitute  the  measure  of  his 
activity  and  zeal,  in  any  department  of  life.  The 
man  who  has  no  fixed  principles — no  "pow  s^o" — 
l^iay  attemj)t  to  use  the  lever,  but  he  will  never 
''lift  the  earth  fr^om  its  poles." 

No  one  should  join' a  Church  without  under- 
standing its  doctrines;  and  as  the  ministers  of 
that  Church  are  the  recognized  expounders  of  the 
system  of  theology  taught  and  believed  by  that 
organization,  they  will  be  untrue  to  themselves, 
to  their  Church,  and  to  their  Cod,  unless  they  set 
forth  and  defend  the  truth  as  they  understand  it. 
Books  may  formulate  Creeds;  but  the  services  of 
the  teacher  are  just  as  necessary  in  tlieology  as  in 
science.  Nor  is  it  at  all  more  unreasonable  or  ab- 
surd to  suppose  that  people  generally  will  make 
scholars  of  themselves  without  the  aid  of  an  in- 
structor than  it  is  to  imagine  that  they  will  be- 
come theologians  without  such  assistance. 

The  tendency  of  the  age,  we  are  free  to  admit, 
is  to  avoid  doctrinal  preaching;  but  it  is  surely  a 
sad  mistake.  The  idea  is  that  such  preaching  is 
both  objectionable  and  uninteresting.  But  this  is 
not  true.  An  intelligent  people  will  never  cen- 
sure a  minister  for  preaching  his  honest  convic- 
tions, provided  he  does  so  in  the  proper  spirit. 
The  mistake  that  is  often  made,  is  the  mayiner  in 


104  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

which  it  is  done.  This  thought  is  forcibly  ilUis- 
trated  by  au  infidel  who  went  to  hear  a  minister 
preach  on  Future  Punishment.  At  the  close  of 
the  sermon,  some  one  asked  him  if  he  was 
offended.  His  answer  was,  "No  indeed;  a  man 
who  argues  so  fairly,  and  yet  so  forcibly,  can 
never  be  offensive  to  an  auditor.  Though,'' 
continued  the  infidel,  "he  si)okeAyith  great  plain- 
ness, yet  his  whole  discourse  was  delivered  with 
remarkable  tenderness;  for  he  strove  to  take  men 
by  the  heart  instead  of  by  the  throat^  Ah,  that 
is  the  secret:  it  is  the  manner  of  the  preacher,  and 
not  the  message,  which  gives  offense. 

As  to  the  charge  that  doctrinal  preaching  is 
uninteresting  to  an  audience,  we  simply  say,  such 
a  sentiment  does  not  accord  with  facts.  Doctrinal 
preaching  planted  the  Christian  religion;  doc- 
trinal preaching  produced  the  day  of  Pentecost; 
doctrinal  preaching  made  Felix  tremble;  doc- 
trinal preaching  ushered  in  the  Reformation.  In 
a  word,  doctrine — truth — lies  at  the  basis  of  all 
intelligent  public  sentiment;  and  without  it,  no 
theory,  no  superstructure,  physical,  moral,  or 
theological,  can  stand. 

But,  lamentable  to  say,  there  is  a  strong  ten- 
dency in  this  age,  on  the  part  of  the  ministry,  to 
eschew  doctrinal  preaching.  The  only  reason, 
perhaps,  that  can  be  given  for  this  theological  de- 
moralization and  degeneracy  is,  that  it  requires  a 
great  deal  less  labor  to  prepare  a  hortatory  than  a 
doctrinal  discourse.     In  other  language,  it  is  easier 


PULriT    AND    PEW..  105 

to  ''speak  words"  than  to  frame  arguments — 
easier  to  rant  than  to  reason.  But  those  who  are 
opj)osed  to  doctrinal  preaching  seem  to  forget 
that  all  genuine  religion  is  founded  upon  knowl 
edge.  It  begins  and  ends  with  truth.  Indeed, 
according  to  the  Bible,  truth  is  the  chief  means 
by  which  the  moral  renovation  of  human  nature 
is  to  be  accomj^lished.  Said  the  blessed  Saviour, 
"Ye  shall  know  the  truth,  and  the  truth  shall 
make  you  free."  And  on  a  most  solemn  occasion, 
when  interceding  for  his  disciples,  he  prayed, 
''  Sanctify  them  through  thy  truth :  thy  word  is 
truth  "  Christianity  is  eminently  distinguished 
from  all  other  s^^stems  of  religion,  because  the 
affections  it  requires,  and  the  virtues  it  inculcates, 
arise  and  are  matured  in  connection  with  correct 
views  of  truth.  The  doctrine  of  the  Scriptures 
is,  that  the  legitimate  tendency  of  moral  and  re- 
ligious truth  is  to  produce  virtuous  affections  and 
upright  conduct,  and  that  the  natural  tendency 
of  error  is  the  reverse.  Hence,  our  Saviour 
taught  that  false  teachers  are  to  be  distinguished 
from  the  true  "by  their  fruits" — that  is,  by  the 
effects  of  their  doctrines  upon  their  own  moral 
character,  and  upon  that  of  their  followers.  The 
fact  is,  we  can  no  more  have  correct  religious 
thinking  and  acting  without  theology  tha.n  we  can 
have  correct  measurement  without  mathematics. 
The  victories  of  Christianity,  wherever  they  have 
been  won,  have  been  achieved  by  distinct, 
sharply-cut  doctrinal  theology;  by  telling  sinners 


106  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

of  Christ's  vicarious  sufferings;  by  teaching  thcni 
justification  by  faith;  by  preaching  the  ruin  of 
the  race  by  Adam's  trangression,  and  redemption 
tlirough  the  blood  of  Christ,  etc.,  etc.  This  is  the 
only  teaching  which  God  has  promised  to  own 
and  bless.  Indeed,  Christianity  without  distinct 
doctrine  is  a  powerless  thing.  It  may  be  beauti- 
ful to  some  minds,  but  it  is  childless  and  barren. 
When  the  blessed  Saviour  appeared  on  earth,  he 
found  the  Jews  in  deep  moral  degradation,  be- 
cause they  had  forsaken  the  doctrines  of  the 
Bible,  and  had  substituted  in  their  stead  forms 
and  ceremonies — were  very  familiar  with  "tradi- 
tions," and  were  very  exact  in  tithing  "mint  and 
cummin,"  but  were  utterly  neglectful  of  "the 
weightier  matters  of  the  law."  The  surrounding 
nations  were  enveloped  in  the  midnight  darkness 
of  a  degrading  polytheism,  which  the  boasted 
learning  of  Grecian  and  Boman  philosophers  had 
signally  foiled  to  dispel.  But,  when  Christ  and 
his  apostles  proclaimed  the  doctrines  of  the  Bible, 
what  grand  transformations  took  place!  So  it 
has  been,  and  so  it  will  be,  in  every  age.  No  one 
can  point  to  a  village,  or  town,  or  city,  or  district, 
or  country  which  has  ever  been  evangelized  with- 
out doctrine.  In  other  words,  doctrine  is  the 
frame-work  of  all  genuine  religion — is  the  skele- 
ton of  truth,  to  be  clothed  and  rounded  out  by 
the  loving  graces  of  a  holy  life. 

We  do  not  contend,  nor  do  we  believe,  that  the 
same   prominence  should   be  given   to  each  and 


J 


PULPIT    AND    PEW,  107 

every  doctrine  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures.  In  the 
human  body  there  are  some  parts  which  are  vital; 
there  are  others  which  are  not  so  much  so.  The 
same  is  true  of  the  Bible;  but  it  requires  all  of 
these  parts  to  make  that  blessed  Book,  ^o  civil 
engineer  would  be  so  unwise  as  to  attempt  to  con- 
struct an  impregnable  fort  w^ithout  using  strong 
materials;  and  the  minister  (who  is  a  theological 
builder)  must  exercise  the  same  sound  discretion. 
Churches  thus  planted  will  stand;  for  they  are 
founded  upon  the  solid  rock,  and  not  upon  the 
drifting  sand.  Members  thus  indoctrinated,  too, 
are  the  minister's  strong  supporters — are  to  him 
as  Aaron  and  Hur  were  to  Moses.  It  is,  there- 
fore, a  sad  mistake  to  suppose  that  doctrinal 
preaching  is  not  required  in  this  age.  Sound 
doctrine  constitutes  the  base — the  bed-rocks — of 
all  theological  systems  that  are  worthy  of  being- 
propagated  or  believed.  The  mightiest  discourses 
that  have  shaken  vast  assemblies,  and  sent  sin- 
ners trembling  to  the  Cross  of  Christ,  have  been 
vitalized  by  doctrine.  The  preacher,  then,  who 
insists  that  the  promises  alone  and  not  the  doctrines 
of  the  Bible  are  to  be  preached  in  the  nineteenth 
century,  has  simply  reversed  the  natural  and 
philosophical  order  of  things;  for  the  joromises 
are  founded  upon — yea,  grow  out  of — the  doc- 
trines. The  latter  are  the  branches  of  the  gospel 
ti-ee,  while  the  former  are  the  blossoms. 

If,  then,  the  ministers  of  this  age  would  do  good, 
if  they  would  bring  the  kingdoms  of  this  world 


108  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

into  subjection  to  Christ,  they  must  fight  with  the 
old  apostolic  weapons,  the  doctrines  of  Christianity. 
The  religion  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  not  a 
religion  of  blind  feeling  or  capricious  impulse. 
It  is  a  religion  of  truth,  and  sanctifies  by  the 
truth.  Indeed,  we  can  scarcely  conceive  of  a 
gospel  discourse  which  does  not  contain  and  en- 
force a  Christian  doctrine.  Let,  then,  every  minister 
of  Christ  receive  kindly  and  obey  implicitly  the 
admonition  of  Paul,  "Take  heed  unto  thyself,  and 
unto  the  <ioc^n/ie;  continue  in  them:  for  in  doing 
this  thou  shalt  both  save  thyself,  and  them  that 
hear  thee."     (1  Tim.  iv.  16.) 

Of  course,  it  is  understood  that,  when  we  insist 
uj)on  doctrinal  i^reaching,  we  do  not  have  refer- 
ence to  polemical  and  controversial  preaching — 
to  those  severe  and  bitter  disputes  which  some- 
times occur  between  brethren  of  difi'erent  denomi- 
nations. A  minister  can  preach  what  he  believes 
to  be  the  truth  without  stopping  to  tell  his  au- 
dience that  he  is  combating  the  "errors  and 
heresies"  of  this  or  that  denomination.  Such  a 
method,  indeed,  is  generally  productive  of  evil 
instead  of  good.  To  display  bitterness  in  a  place 
that  should  be  radiant  with  Christian  love,  or  to 
thrust  out,  in  an  ungodly  spirit,  "the  horns  of 
controversy,"  is  not  the  way  to  induce  others  to 
think  as  does  the  preacher.  The  best  way  to  cor- 
rect error  is  to  preach  the  truth,  and  preach  it  in 
such  a  spirit,  too,  as  will  give  no  ofi'ense — preach 
as  though  no  one  else  believed  to  the  contrary. 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  109 

The  Saviour  and  his  apostles  did  so,  and  surely  a 
minister  now  is  safe  when  he  has  such  illustrious 
examples.  This  is  the  general  rule.  Cases  may 
arise,  we  grant,  in  which  duty  demands  some 
modification  of  this  general  principle;  but  the 
preacher  must  be  certain  that  they  are  exceptional 
and  emergent  before  he  will  be  safe  in  making 
such  a  departure.  Hence,  we  repeat  the  senti- 
ment, and  with  emphasis,  too,  that  the  positive 
and  able  inculcation  of  truth  is  the  best  defense 
against  error;  and  that  the  more  com^Dletely  im- 
personal and  uncontroversial  it  is,  the  less  likely 
is  it  to  arouse  those  malevolent  feelings  which 
never  fail  to  grieve  the  Holy  Spirit. 

We  conclude  this  topic  with  one  brief,  emphatic 
declaration  which  we  would  impress  upon  the 
hear.t  of  every  minister  of  the  gospel  in  Christen- 
dom; and  that  declaration  is  this:  No  doctrine, 
no  Christianity;  no  doctrine,  no  evangelization. 

12.  He  must  preach  the  gospel — nothing  but  the 
gospel. 

The  blessed  Saviour  said,  "  Gro  ye  into  all  the 
world  and  preach" — not  science,  not  politics — but 
"the  gospel  to  every  creature."  The  preachers  of 
this  day  have  no  other  commission  than  that 
originally  given  to  the  disciples;  and  they  not 
only  disobey  Christ,  but  disgrace  the  sacred  office 
which  they  fill,  whenever  they  attempt  to  enlarge 
the  scope  of  that  command.  All  political  and 
scientific  dissertations  from  the  sacred  desk,  there- 


110  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

fore,  are  as  a  "sounding  brass  and  a  tinkling 
cymbal."  Nor  is  there  any  thing  which  will  so 
completely  emasculate  the  pulpit  of  its  power,  and 
demoralize  the  minister  and  his  flock,  as  "another 
gospel"  than  the  one  which  he  is  commissioned 
to  preach.  But,  lamentable  to  say,  there  is  a 
disposition  on  the  part  of  many  ministers  in  this 
age  to  preach  almost  every  thing  else  exce2:)t  Christ 
and  him  crucified.  The  reason  assigned  for  so 
doing  is  that  it  is  an  age  of  progress — an  age  of 
scientific  thought  and  investigation — a  practical 
age,  and  that  the  people  are  tired  of  the  "old,  old 
story,"  and  demand  something  new.  Never  was 
there  a  greater  mistake,  nor  a  greater  perversion 
of  the  truth.  The  ftict  is,  the  newest  thing  in  this 
world  is  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ. 

It  is  true  the  world  has  made  progress  in 
science,  literature,  and  art;  but  it  has  never  out- 
grown the  necessit}^  for  the  gospel.  It  is  to-day, 
as  it  was  in  the  time  of  Paul,  "the  power  of  God 
and  the  wisdqm  of  Clod  ";  nor  is  there  any  thing  in 
the  vast  range  of  human  thought  that  can  sup- 
plant it.  The  preacher,  therefore,  who  would  dare 
put  this  gospel  in  the  rear  of  any  tiling,  will  find 
himself  in  the  predicament  of  the  disciples  when 
they  attempted  to  row  their  vessel  over  the  surg- 
ing waves  of  Galilee  with  Christ  in  the  "hinder 
part  of  the  ship."  They  found  that  the  only  way 
to  save  themselves  and  the  vessel  was  to  bring 
Christ  to  "the  front";  and  it  is  a  great  pity  that 
all  the  ministers  of  this  ajxe  cannot  be  induced  to 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  Ill 

exercise  the  same  sound  discretion.  Human  natui-e 
is  the  same  now  that  it  always  was — "  the  heart  de- 
ceitful above  all  things  and  desperatel}^  wicked  " — 
and  it  requires  precisely  the  same  remedy  to  cor- 
rect the  evil  now  that  it  did  in  the  patriarchal, 
prophetic,  or  apostolic  times.  "Ye  must  be 
born  again"  is  as  true  to-day  as  it  was  when  the 
Saviour  addressed  ISTicodemus;  and  the  only  in- 
strumentality known  to  the  world  as  a  basis  for 
that  new  birth  is  "the  Gospel  of  Christ."  It  is 
the  "Sword  of  the  Spirit;"  and  that  sword  to-day, 
when  properly  wielded,  is  just  as  keen  a  blade  as 
when  it  struck  down  Saul  of  Tarsus,  or  pierced 
the  hearts  of  the  three  thousand  on  the  day  of 
Pentecost.  When,  therefore,  it  fails  to  do  its 
work,  it  is  not  because  it  is  dull  and  rusty,  but 
because  the  hand  in  which  it  is  placed  does  not 
properly  wield  it.  With  that  sword,  unlettered 
fishermen  cut  their  way  through  every  opposing 
obstacle;  and  with  that  same  SAVord  Paul  and 
Silas,  though  strongly  manacled,  made  the  Phil- 
ippian  jailor  tremble.  With  it,  too,  Luther  and 
his  coadjutors  triumphed  over  the  Pope  and  the 
devil,  and  ushered  in  the  Eeformation.  In  a 
word,  with  it,  bright  and  burnishing,  a  minister 
of  Jesus  Christ  is  "the  strongman  armed";  with- 
out it,  he  is  as  powerless  as  a  child. 

Then,  let  it  not  be  said  that  a  preacher  in  this 
age  must,  in  order  to  meet  its  demands,  preach 
science,  politics  —  "another  gospel."  ^N'othing 
coi\ld  inveigle  the   Saviour  into  politics,  though 


112  PULPIT    AND   PEW. 

eveiy  possible  effort  was  made  to  do  so.  All  that 
they  could  extort  from  him,  in  this  particular, 
was,  "My  kingdom  is  not  of  this  world."  And 
so  thoroughly  imbued  was  he  with  the  greatness 
and  grandeur  of  his  mission  that  he  never  once 
said  a  word  about  science,  as  we  use  the  term. 
His  sermons  and  j^arables  were  marvels  of  won- 
der; but  he  never  preached  a  single  "scientific 
discourse" — never  preached  on  chemistry,  astron- 
omy, anatomy,  natural  laws,  protoplasms,  and 
evolution.  Paul,  too,  though  he  had  as  much 
learning  as  any  man  then  living,  scorned  the 
thought  of  preaching  in  the  "enticing  words  of 
man's  w^isdom."  Why  is  it,  then,  that  so  manj^ 
preachers  of  the  present  time  will  disregard  the 
example  of  Christ  and  his  inspired  apostles? 
Why  leave  the  inexhaustible  store-house  of  the 
Bible,  where  "there  is  j^lenty  and  to  spare,"  and 
feed  upon  the  dry  "husks"  which  scientists  and 
infidels  place  before  them?  Have  these  preachers 
exhausted  the  gospel,  that  they  must  go  elsewhere 
for  material?  If  so,  they  are  greatly  in  advance 
of  Paul,  for  he  found  it  to  be  unfathomable. 
Hear  him  as  he  exclaims,  "O  the  depth  of  the 
riches  both  of  the  wisdom  and  knowledge  of 
God!" 

Kemember,  we  are  not  inveighi  ng  against  scien ce, 
etc.,  in  the  abstract.  On  the  contrary,  we  say  let 
the  minister  possess  all  the  information  and  learn- 
ing possible — yea,  let  him  go  to  the  most  profound 
depths    of   human    wisdom;    and   the   more  "the 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  113 

better.  But  we  do  sa}',  and  we  say  it  with  em- 
phasis, too,  that  '■Hhe  gospel  of  Christ,''  and  not 
^Uinother  gospel,''  is  to  be  his  theme  in  the  pulpit, 
Human  learning  is  to  his  mind  simply  what  food 
is  to  the  soldier — is  to  give  him  the  ability  to 
wield  that  sword.  But,  be  it  remembered,  it  is 
as  separate  and  distinct  from  that  sword  as  the 
physical  strength  of  the  soldier  is  from  the 
weapon  which  he  is  to  employ.  The  truth  is,  all 
who  have  the  proper  appreciation  of  what  true 
gospel-preaching  is,  greatly  prefer  to  hear  a  plain, 
scriptural,  soul-stirring  sermon  to  any  and  all 
other  themes  that  can  be  presented  from  the  pul- 
pit. They  go  to  the  sanctuary  to  be  told  their 
duty — to  be  made  better  men  and  better  women — 
to  Avorship  (xod,  and  not  to  be  worried  about  "op- 
positions of  science."  The  kind  of  preaching 
which  we  are  condemning  may  please  the  intellect; 
but  preaching  which  feeds  the  head  and  starves 
the  heart  is  a  solemn  farce.  The  pulpit  is  not  the 
place  for  the  review  of  books,  for  dissertations  on 
science,  politics,  etc.;  but  for  the  preaching  of 
*' Jesus  and  the  resurrection,"  and  that  which 
pertains  to  the  salvation  of  the  soul.  If  the  min- 
ister must  exhibit  his  knowledge  of  scientific  sub- 
jects, let  him  use  the  press;  but  for  his  own  sake, 
and  for  the  sake  of  the  cause  which  he  represents, 
let  him  not  annoy  the  people  with  them  from  the 
pulpit.  Besides,  it  is  a  fact  which  should  not  be 
overlooked,  that  the  class  of  men  against  whom 
he  is  inveighing  when  he  is  preaching  upon  science, 
8 


114  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

evolution,  etc.,  rarely,  if  ever,  go  to  cliurch;  be 
is,  therefore,  preaching  to  an  absent  congregation! 

A  minister,  by  such  a  course,  imagines,  no 
doubt,  that  he  has  a  broader  field;  for  he  can  then, 
as  he  thinks,  "switch  off"  from  the  old  road-bed 
of  the  gospel  to  the  "side-tracks"  of  "popular 
themes."  He  should  not  forget,  however,  that 
such  side-tracks  of  our  holy  religion  are  like 
many  of  those  on  our  railroads — they  go  from, 
but  do  not  return  to,  the  main  thoroughfare;  and 
the  only  way  to  get  into  proper  position  to  ad- 
vance is  to  "reverse  the  engine"  and  "back."  A 
preacher  need  not  "rack  his  brain"  for  novelties — 
for  outside  issues.  The  freshest,  newest,  most 
rousing,  most  thrilling  thing  in  this  world  is  the 
stor}'  of  the  cross.  His  material,  therefore,  is 
furnished  him  by  infinite  wisdom;  and  all  that 
he  has  to  do  is  to  go  to  that  inexhaustible  mine 
for  his  supplies.  In  that  mine  the  old  ])rophets 
"searched  diligently,"  and  the  holy  angels  have 
desired  "to  look  into"  the  same.  So  with  the  in- 
spired apostles;  but  no  created  intellect  was  ever 
able  to  measure  "  the  breadth,  and  length,  and 
depth,  and  height"  of  that  grand  store-house  of 
truth.  Instead,  therefore,  of  needing  new  themes, 
the  minister  of  to-day  will  find  an  exhaustless 
variety  in  God's  treasure-house;  and  he  will  find, 
also,  that  time  is  too  short  for  the  most  gigantic 
intellect  to  unfold  and  display  the  mysteries  of  re- 
demption. 

There  are  but  two  ways  of  harmoniz.ing  the 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  115 

gospel  imd  a  fallen  race.  One  is  to  conform  men's 
beliefs,  affections,  and  lives  to  the  gospel ;  and  the 
other  is  to  conform  the  gospel  to  the  lives  of  men. 
The  former  is  the  conversion  of  men  to  Christian- 
ity; the  latter  is  the  perversion  of  Christianity  to 
men.  Ministers  who  preach  "another  gospel" 
are  guilty  of  this  perversion.  The  effect  of  such 
preaching,  whether  so  intended  or  not,  is  to  so 
lower  the  standard  of  discipleship  t!iat  the 
worldly  may  not  find  it  a  very  arduous  or  bur- 
densome thing  to  make  an  outward  profession  of 
Christianity.  But  such  preaching  is  simply  a 
compromise  with  sin  and  Satan.  It  is  bridging 
the  trenches,  tearing  down  the  fortifications,  and 
inviting  the  enemy  to  enter.  It  is  raising  the 
flag  of  truce,  spiking  the  heavy  artillery,  and  con- 
verting the  "warfare"  of  Jesus  Christ  into  a 
spectacular  show  of  sham  battles  or  dress-parades. 
It  is  placing  the  "sword  of  the  Spirit"  in  the 
scabbard,  and  cutting  off  "the  right  arm"  of  the 
minister's  power.  It  is  building  on  the  sand  in- 
stead of  upon  the  solid  rock.  It  is  setting  up 
landmarks  of  snow  instead  of  the  imperishable 
granite. 

The  true  minister  needs  no  other  themes  than 
those  which  the  Bible  furnishes;  and  it  is  an  un- 
pardonable folly  to  attempt,  by  "  another  gospel," 
to  cure  the  cancer  of  the  human  soul.  "The 
gospel  of  Christ"  teaches  either  truth  or  false- 
hood. If  that  gospel  be  a  "cunningly  devised 
fixble,"  then  let  the  preacher  "close  the  book,"  and 


116  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

surrender  the  pulpit.  But  it  is  not  a  flible;  and 
however  great  may  be  the  strides  of  civilization, 
of  discovery,  of  invention,  of  human  learning, 
yet  none  of  these,  nor  all  of  them,  can  supersede 
the  Book  of  books.  Steam-ships  and  railway-cars 
differ  greatly  from  the  conveyances  which  they 
have  displaced,  but  the  passengers  who  travel  in 
them  have  undergone  no  corresponding  change. 
The  human  heart  is  still  corrupt,  and  "the  carnal 
mind  is  enmity  against  Grod,  not  subject  to  his 
law,  neither  indeed  can  be";  except  by  the 
remedy  prepared  by  God  himself.  A  sermon, 
then,  which  is  not  based  upon  the  gospel,  is  a 
mockery  and  a  sham;  and  the  minister  who  de- 
livers such  a  discourse  and  calls  it  a  sermon,  is 
an  impostor.  Christ  commissions  his  ministers 
to  "go  into  all  the  world'  and  preach  the  gospel 
to  every  creature";  and  if  they  preach  any  thing 
else,  then,  as  honest  men,  they  ought  to  surrender 
the  commission  to  the  hand  from  which  it  was 
received.  And,  whether  so  meant  or  not,  they  do 
surrender  that  commission  whenever  they  go  out- 
side of  that  Book  for  the  themes  of  their  dis- 
courses. Everything  else  is  "another  gospel" — 
yea,  the  napkin  in  which  they  wrap  the  sacred 
treasure  which  they  bury. 

A  preacher  is  the  ambassador  of  God ;  and  he 
cannot  be  a  faithful  oile  if  he  delivers  any  other 
message  than  that  which  his  commission  author- 
izes. Why,  then,  will  he  forsake  the  "munition 
of  rocks,"  and  take   refuge   behind  the  drifting 


PULPIT    AND    PEVv'.  117 

sand?  Why  will  he  leave  the  "green  pastures" 
of  God's  word,  and  go  to  the  Saharan  deserts  of 
this  world?  Among  all  the  grand  discoveries  of 
man  nothing  has  ever  been  found  as  a  substitute 
for  the  gospel.  When  the  blessed  Saviour  ex- 
pired on  the  Cross,  he  said,  "/^  is  finished.''' 
Hence,  we  do  not  need  a  newly-incarnated  God 
for  every  age,  together  with  a  new  crucifixion 
and  atonement.  If  not,  then  the  one  satisfaction 
for  sin  made  by  Christ  was  and  is  made  for  every 
age;  -and  the  one  gospel  which  Paul,  in  his  day, 
said  was  "the  power  of  God  unto  salvation  to 
every  one  that  believeth,"must  be  the  same  in  all 
generations.  If,  therefore,  ministers  would  heal 
the  maladies  of  the  soul,  they  must  use  the  remedy 
ordained  of  God — the  gospel.  Moral  essays, 
scientific  discussions,  etc.,  etc.,  delivered  with  a 
great  "flourish  of  trumpets,"  in  beautifully 
rounded  sentences,  and  in  good  Johnsonian 
English,  may  i)ass  for  sermons  "so  called,"  but 
they  will  never  force  the  sinner  to  cry  out, 
"What  must  I  do  to  be  saved?"  Like  blank  car- 
tridges, they  may  make  a  noise,  but  they  do  no 
execution.  But  is  there  not  much  of  this  kind  of 
preaching  in  this  "our  day" — preaching  which  is 
nothing  except  bald  platitudes,  timid  statements, 
and  elaborately  concocted  milk  and  water — - 
preaching  which,  instead  of  "dividing  the  joints 
and  marrow,"  is  nothing  but  a  leaden  sword, 
without  point  or  edge? 

The  spiritual  man,  like  the  physical,  cannot  be 


118  rULPlT    AND    PEW. 

developed  and  strengthened  without  the  riglit 
kind  of  food.  Syllabubs  and  sweetmeats,  though 
pleasant  to  the  taste,  will  not  make  bone  and 
sinew;  bread,  pure  and  unadulterated,  is  indis- 
pensable— bread  just  as  God  has  made  it.  The 
same  is  true  in  referenee  to  man's  spiritual  nature. 
It  needs  bread,  plain,  uncontaminated,  life-sus- 
taining bread;  and  the  gospel  tells  just  where 
that  bread  can  be  obtained — indeed,  is  that  bread 
itself.  (See  John  vi.  35.)  And,  no  doubt,  the 
principal  reason  why  there  are  so  many  spiritual 
dyspeptics  in  the  Church  is,  that  many  preachers 
have  so  sugar-coated  that  bread  as  to  make  it  per- 
nicious to  health.  In  other  words,  when  longing, 
hungering,  famishing  souls  asked  their  minister 
for  bread,  he  gave  them  a  stone;  and  when  they 
asked  for  a  fish,  he  gave  them  a  serpent.  (See 
Luke  xi.  11.) 

Dr.  Hodge  says:  "This  [the  Bible]  is  sharper 
than  any  two-edged  sword.  It  is  the  wis- 
dom of  Grod  and  the  power  of  God.  It  has  a 
self-evidencing  light.  It  commends  itself  to 
reason  and  conscience.  It  has  the  power  not 
only  of  truth,  but  of  Divine  truth.  In  opposition 
to  all  error,  to  all  false  philosophy,  to  all  the 
sophistries  of  vice,  to  all  the  suggestions  Of  the 
devil,  the  sole,  simple,  and  efficient  answer  is  the 
Word  of  God.  This  puts  to  flight  all  the  powers 
of  darkness.  The  Christian  finds  this  to  be  true 
in  his  individual  experience.  It  is  also  the  ex- 
perience  of    the    Church    collectively.      All    her 


PULPIT    AND   PEW.  119 

triumphs  over  sin  and  error  have  been  effected 
by  the  Word  of  God.  So  long  as  she  uses  this, 
iHid  relies  on  it  alone,  she  goes  on  conquering; 
but  when  any  thing  else — be  it  reason,  science, 
tradition,  or  the  commandments  of  men — is  al- 
loAved  to  take  its  place,  or  to  share  its  office,  then 
the  Church  or  the  Christian  is  at  the  mercy  of 
the  adversary."  John  Brown,  of  Haddington, 
declared:  "So  far  as  I  ever  observed  God's  deal- 
ings with  my  soul,  the  flights  of  preachers  some- 
times entertained  me;  but  it  was  Scripture  ex- 
pressions which  did  penetrate  my  heart,  and  that 
in  a  way  peculiar  to  themselves."  Said  Carnock : 
"No  man  is  renewed  by  phrases  and  fancies; 
these  are  only  as  the  oil  to  make  the  nails  of  the 
sanctuary  drive  in  the  easier.  Words  there  must 
be  to  make  things  intelligible;  but  the  seminal 
virtue  lies  not  in  the  husk  and  skin,  but  in  the 
kernel.  The  rest  dies,  but  the  substance  of  the 
seed  lives  and  brings  forth  fruit.  The  word  does 
not  work  as  it  is  elegant,  but  as  it  is  Divine — as 
it  is  a  word  of  truth.  Illustrations  are  but  the 
ornament  of  the  temple;  the  glory  of  it  is  in  the 
ark  and  mercy-seat.  It  is  not  the  engraving  upon 
the  sword  that  cuts,  but  the  edge ;  nor  the  key,  as 
it  is  gilt,  that  opens,  but  as  fitted  to  the  wards. 
It  is  the  juice  of  the  meat,  and  not  the  garnish- 
ing of  the  dish,  that  nourishes." 

Let,  then,  this  "partly  human  and  partly 
divine"  preaching  cease.  The  gospel  which  such 
preaching   neglects    will    stand    through    all    the 


120  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

vicissitudes  of  time.  Christ  says,  "Heaven  and 
earth  shall  pass  away,  but  my  words  [my  gospel, 
my  teachings]  shall  not  pass  away."  (Matt. 
xxiv.  35.)  Hence,  the  preacher  must  not  leave  it 
to  pursue  the  ever-changing  phantoms  of  human 
philoso^^hy  and  speculation.  Paul  says,  "The 
wisdom  of  this  world  is  foolishness  with  God"; 
and  "the  foolishness  of  God  is  wiser  than  men." 
He  also  says,  "I  am  not  ashamed  of  the  gospel  of 
Christ;  for  it  is  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation 
to  every  one  that  believeth."  (See  1  Cor.  iii.  19; 
i.  25  Eom.  i.  16.)  And  of  him  it  is  said:  "And 
Paul,  as  his  manner  was,  went  in  unto  them,  and 
three  Sabbath-days  reasoned  with  them  out  of  the 
Scriptures."  This  single  passage,  even  if  we  had 
nothing  more,  forever  settles  the  matter  of  duty 
with  all  true  ministers.  They  are  responsible  for 
preaching  the  gospel,  and  not  for  the  effects  of 
that  gospel.  If  they  fail  to  do  so,  then  they  are 
guilty  of  a  great  sin,  and  God  will  hold  them  ac- 
countable for  that  omission  of  duty  not  only  here 
but  at  the  judgment. 

13.  Se  must  be  consecrated  to  his  worJc. 

Of  all  the  professions,  that  of  the  sacred  minis- 
try is  the  most  laborious  and  the  most  important. 
The  aim  of  every  other  avocation,  to  a  great  ex- 
tent, pertains  to  temporal  good ;  but  this,  to  eternal 
felicity.  The  importance  of  every  other  office, 
tlierefore,  falls  as  far  short  of  this  as  three-score 
and  ten  years  fall  short  of  eternity. 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  121 

The  idolatrous  priests  of  heathen  nations, 
whose  religions  are  a  chaos  of  fiibles;  devote  their 
whole  time,  energies,  and  talents  to  their  special 
work.  Their  religion  is  their  business,  their 
study,  and  their  pleasure.  And  shall  those  who 
are  set  apart  for  the  service  of  a  religion  as  far 
above  theirs  as  heaven  is  above  earth,  do  less 
than  those  "blind  leaders  of  the  blind"? 

Jesus  Christ,  "the  minister's  pattern,"  fur- 
nished a  striking  illustration  of  the  consecration 
which  the  sacred  office  demands.  His  whole  soul 
was  in  it,  and  he  subordinated  earthly  relation- 
ship, personal  convenience,  and  even  present 
necessity,  to  the  great  work  in  which  he  was  en- 
gaged. No  time  was  wasted  upon  trifles;  nor  was 
there  ever  an  opportunity  for  doing  good  Igst. 
Even  the  common  courtesies  of  life  were  im- 
proved as  occasions  of  the  most  important  in- 
struction. The  idea  of  relinquishing  his  work,  or 
of  subordinating  it  to  any  thing  else,  never  once 
entered  his  mind.  Through  the  most  fiery  trials, 
he  persevered  to  the  end;  and  compressed,  with- 
in the  space  of  three  years,  the  most  success- 
ful niinisterial  life  recorded  in  the  annals  of 
time. 

Paul,  in  one  paragraph,  condenses,  in  the  small- 
est compass,  the  consecration  which  is  demanded 
of  the  minister.  "Neglect  not  the  gift  that  is  in 
thee,  which  was  given  thee  by  prophecy,  with 
the  laying  on  of  the  hands  of  the  presbytery. 
Meditate  upon  these  things;  give  thyself  wholly 


122  rULPlT    AND    PEW. 

to  them;  that  thy  profiting  may  appear  to  all. 
Take  heed  unto  thyself,  and  unto  the  doctrine; 
continue  in  them:  for  in  doing  this  tliou  shalt 
both  save  thyself,  and  them  that  hear  thee."  (1 
Tim.  iv.  14-16.)  According  to  Paul's  idea,  there- 
fore, a  minister  is  to  be  a  laborer^  and  not  a  loiterer, 
in  the  vineyard  of  the  Lord;  not  doing  his  work 
with  a  reluctant  heart,  but  "giving  himself 
wholly''  to  it. 

The  great  Cecil  used  to  say,  that  the  devil  did 
not  care  how  ministers  are  emploj^ed,  so  that  it  is 
not  in  their  proper  work.  Bat  the  minister  has 
only  one  "proper  work."  He  is  the  constituted 
representative  of  Christ — is  his  ambassador;  and 
he  is  to  teach  as  Christ  would  teach.  The  blessed 
Savjour  said,  "No  man  can  serve  two  masters," 
and  this  truth  is  especially  applicable  to  the  min- 
ister of  the  gospel.  He  may  leave  his  great  work, 
and  engage  in  purely  secular  things;  but,  sooner 
or  later,  they  will  prove  to  be  broken  cisterns 
that  hold  no  water.  Try  it  when  he  ma}'',  he  will 
find  the  atmosphere  of  trade  and  traffic  more 
poisonous  to  the  soul  than  the  malaria  of  the 
Dismal  Swamp  is  to  the  body.  In  it  he  may  live; 
but  it  is  to  him  a  most  unsatisfactory  life.  His 
heart  throbs  with  an  unhealthy  action ;  for,  amid 
the  "noise  and  bustle  of  the  world,"  he  is  rest- 
less— yea,  miserable;  and  could  we  know  his  in- 
ternal conflicts,  and  mark  his  struggles,  we  would 
need  nothing  more  to  convince  us  that  he  treads 
a  rugged,  painful,  and    embarrassed  path.     The 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  123 

influence,  too,  of  such  i\  preacher  has  a  most 
damaging  effect.  He  either  succeeds-  in  his 
secuhir  affairs,  or  he  does  not.  If  he  does,  it  is  at 
the  expense  of  ministerial  efficiency;  if  he  fails, 
he  is  still  seriously  injured — injured  pecuniarily 
and  spiritually.  Besides,  his  life  has  a  most 
blighting  influence  not  only  upon  the  uncon- 
verted, but  upon  professing  Christians^— shows  to 
them  that  he  loves  money  better  than  souls!  In- 
deed, of  all  the  men  engaged  in  the  sacred  pro- 
fession, only  they  succeed  who  give  their  whole 
time  to  the  work.  A  profession  which  required 
all  the  ability  of  a  Paul,  is  certainly  enough  for 
any  one.  Simply  because  God  calls  a  man  to  the 
ministry,  we  are  not  to  infer  that  that  man  is 
more  than  human  in  mental  or  physical  capabili- 
ties— that  he  can  succeed  in  two  or  more  lines  of 
business,  when  it  requires  all  the  energies  of  or- 
dinary men  to  succeed  in  one.  The  idea,  there- 
fore, that  a  man  can  be  an  efficient  and  successful 
preacher,  and  a  good  lawj^er,  physician,  mer- 
chant, or  school-teacher,  is  utterly  preposterous; 
nor  does  such  an  idea  reflect  much  credit  upon 
the  intelligence  of  him  who  entertains  it.  If 
Jesus  drove  the  traffickers  out  of  the  temple,  how 
can  he  permit  such  a  man  to  enter  the  pulpit f 
He  may  permit  it  (for  he  acts  sometimes  in  the  way 
of  judgment  as  well  as  mercy),  but  permit  it  with 
impunity  he  Vsall  not.  Besides,  it  has  not  escaped 
the  observation  of  thoughtful  men  that,  when 
ministers  do  succeed  in  making  money,  they  are 


124  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

less  liberal  in  the  benevolent  use  of  it  than  even 
men  of  the  world.  And  this  is  reasonable  and 
natural;  for,  when  men  disregard  their  higher 
obligations  for  the  purpose  of  making  money,  it 
is  not  to  be  expected  that  they  will  be  liberal  in 
the  use  of  it.  The  minister,  therefore,  Avho 
preaches  against  the  w^orld,  and  yet  lives  for  it — 
w^lio  discourses  from  the  text,  "  The  love  of  money 
is  the  root  of  all  evil,"  and  yet  makes  money  his 
idol — mocks  both  God  and  man  ! 

The  point  which  we  wish  to  emphasize  under 
this  caption  is  that  the  minister  must  be  a  man 
of  one  work.  Indeed,  singleness  of  aim  is  indis- 
pensable to  success  in  any  avocation  of  life.  The 
many-sided  man,  almost  without  exception,  is  a 
failure.  The  human  mind,  like  a  burning  glass, 
is  powerful  only  as  it  focalizes.  No  man  has  ever 
yet  made  a  name  and  reputation  who  was  not 
possessed  by  some  master  j^assion.  Energy,  like 
gunpowder,  to  be  effective,  needs  concentration. 
Those  who  have  sent  their  names  ringing  down 
through  the  ages  have  been  men  of  one  work.  In 
ninety-nine  cases  out  of  a  hundred,  the  true 
secret  of  failure,  in  all  worldly  matters,  is  mental 
dissipation — the  squandering  of  the  energies 
upon  a  distracting  variety  of  objects,  instead  of 
concentrating  them  upon  one.  Great  statesmen, 
great  generals,  great  jurists,  great  physicians, 
great  teachers,  great  authors,  great  painters,  great 
merchants — in  brief,  great  any  thing — can  be 
made  only  of  those  who,  like  one  of  the  grandest 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  125 

men  that  this  world  .has  ever  produced,  can  say, 
"This  owe  thing  I  do."  AYith  a  few  rare  excep- 
tions, the  men  w^hose  names  are  historic,  in  all 
secular  avocations,  have  been  those  who  spent 
their  life-force  on  some  one  thing. 

The  sacred  ministry  constitutes  no  exception 
to  the  statements  just  made  in  reference  to  secular 
callings.  The  j^riestly  office  of  the  Old  Dispensa- 
tion was  filled  by  men  who  were  set  apart  for  tUat 
special  service;  nor  were  they  expected  or  per- 
mitted to  engage  in  any  other  avocation.  The 
blessed  Saviour,  too,  inculcated  the  same  senti- 
ment when  he  called  men  to  the  apostolic  office; 
for  it  is  a  matter  of  record  tliat  they  "left  all  and 
followed  him" — abandoned  their  secular  business, 
no  difference  what  kind  nor  how  lucrative  it  may 
have  been.  But  if  the  Scriptures  were  silent 
upon  this  point,  reason  would  dictate  the  same 
thing.  The  work  of  a  religious  teacher  is  not 
only  paramount  to  all  others,  but  it  is  the  most 
difficult,  the  most  arduous,  the  most  constant  of 
all  the  avocations  of  men.  No  wonder,  therefore, 
that  even  heathen  nations  demand  that  their  re- 
ligious instructors  "shall  abstain  from  all  worldly 
things  ";  for  they  very  well  know  that  in  order  that 
these  men  may  be  as  profitable  to  them,  in  that 
relation,  as  they  should  be,  their  whole  time, 
talent,  and  energy  must  be  given  to  that  special 
work.  Now,  if  such  consecration  is  deemed  to 
be  a  matter  of  vital  importance  in  reference  to 
the  teachers  of  false  religions,  how  much  more  so 


126  PULPIT    ANT)    PEW. 

iji  it  in  reference  to  a  religion  revealed  by  God 
himself? 

Ko  minister,  no  difference  Avbat  bis  talents  and 
learning  may  be,  can  reacb  tbe  highest  degree  of 
usefulness  in  his  j^rofession  who  dissipates  bis 
energies  over  too  many  fields.  He  who  makes 
tbe  ministry  a  secondary  thing  may  be  a  sound 
and  even  a  learned  preacher;  but  be  never  can 
b«  a  powerful  one.  There  is,  it  is  true,  a  sort  of 
pulpit  fire  which  is  rhetorical — proceeds  from  no 
warmth  within,  and  diffuses  no  warmth  without; 
but  that  preaching  which  awakens  the  spiritually 
dead — which  makes  the  sinner  cry  out,  '-Jesus, 
thou  son  of  David,  have  mercy  on  me" — can  be 
done  only  by.  the  minister  whose  soul  is  bathed 
in  the  love  of  God — by  him  who  gives  himself 
'•  continually  "  to  the  work.  Look  where  we  may, 
we  will  find  that  the  ministers  of  Christendom 
who  have  accomplished  the  grandest  results — 
whom  all  preachers  should  most  desire  to  imitate — 
have  been  those  who  have  been  true  to  their  pro- 
fession, and  who  have  lived  for  nothing  else.  It 
was  so  with  Paul,  with  Luther,  with  Knox,  with 
TTesley,  with  Hall,  with  Edwards,  with  McGready, 
with  Ewing — in  a  word — with  all  those  grand 
men  who  have  "turned  the  world  upside  down  " — 
who  have  '•  lengthened  the  cords,  and  strengthened 
the  stakes"  of  our  common  Zion. 

Let,  then,  the  preacher  give  his  whole  time  and 
talents  to  his  work.  Let  his  prayer  be  that  of  the 
sacred  poet: 


Pri.PIT    AM)    PEW.  127 

"My  talents,  gifts,  and  graces,  Lord, 
Into  thj'^  blessed  hands  receive; 
And  let  me  live  to  preach  thy  word; 

And  let  me  to  thy  glory  live — 
My  every  sacred  moment  spend 
In  publishing  the  sinner's  Friend." 

Said  the  grand  old  preacher  of  Haddington, 
'•Xow,  after  forty  years'  preaching  of  Christ,  and 
his  great  and  sweet  salvation,  I  think  I  would  rather 
beg  my  bread  through  all  the  laboring  days  of  the 
week,  for  the  opportunity  of  i^ublishing  the  gos- 
pel on  the  Sabbath  to  an  assembly  of  sinful  men, 
thari,  without  such  a  privilege,  enjoy  the  richest 
posses.'^ions  on  earth." 

This  topic  closes  what  we  propose  to  say  in  re- 
lation to  -'The  qualifications  and  duties  xchich  are 
essential  to  a  successful  minister  of  the  gospel.''  "We 
might  mention  others — might  speak  of  the  minis- 
ter in  his  associations  with  his  official  members — 
in  the  higher  courts  of  the  Church — in  the  benevo- 
lent, and  in  the  Sabbath-school  work,  of  his 
charge — in  the  sick  chamber,  etc.;  but  more  space 
has  been  occupied  already  than  was  originally 
allotted  to  the  first  half  of  this  little  book.  Be- 
sides, the  items  alluded  to,  though  important,  are 
not  so  vital  as  those  which  have  been  discussed. 

A  few,  perhaps,  may  think  that  some  things 
have  been  said  a  little  too  sharply;  but  when  it 
is  remembered  that  those  were  uttered  only  in  ref- 
erence to  some  of  the  most  crvini^  evils  connected 


128  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

with  the  sacred  ministry- -evils,  too,  which  all 
orthodox  Christendom  would  rejoice  to  see  re- 
moved— the  ho^^e  is  indulged  that  such  critics,  if 
any  there  be,  will  be  disarmed — will  agree  with 
the  author  that  the  best  remedy  for  some  sins  is  an 
open  exposure  and  a  severe  rebuke.  One  thing 
is  certainly  true — not  a  sentence  or  word  has 
been  written  that  was  designed  to  be  personal  to 
a  minister  of  Jesus  Christ,  either  in  the  author's 
own  denomination,  or  in  any  other.  On  the  con- 
trary, he  feels  that  he  has  written  more  against 
himself  than  against  the  humblest  and  most  frail 
of  that  grand  fraternity  to  which  he  belongs. 

"How  beauteous  are  their  feet 
Who  stand  on  Zion's  hill, 
Who  bring  salvation  on  their  tongues, 
And  words  of  peace  reveal! 

"How  charming  is  their  voice! 
How  sweet  the  tidings  are! 
'  Zion,  behold  thy  Saviour  King ; 
He  reigns  and  triumjDhs  here.' " 

God  grant  that  these  beautiful  lines  of  the  half- 
inspired  poet  may  be  applicable  to  every  minister 
of  the  gospel  on  earth  ! 


THE  PEW-THE  PEOPLE, 


PART  II.-THE  MEMBERSHIP. 


God's  plans  are  perfect.  He  never  leaves  any 
thing  incomplete.  As  the  Psalmist  expresses  it, 
"The  Word  of  the  Lord  is  right;  and  all  his 
works  are  done  in  truth."  His  ari-angements  are 
that  one  class  must  preach  the  gospel,  and  that 
the  other  (and  a  much  larger  one,  too)  must  re- 
ceive it — must  be  "living  epistles  known  and  read 
of  all  men."  The  ministry  and  the  membership  are 
the  two  human  forces  which  Heaven  has  ordained 
for  subduing  this  world  to  Christ.  They  are  com- 
])lementary  factors — each  as  dependent  upon  the 
other  as  are  the  officers  and  soldiers  of  an  army. 
No  earthly  sovereign  ever  sent  out  a  force  for  the 
subjugation  of  a  province  composed  of  officers 
alone,  however  well-drilled,  bold,  and  courageous 
they  might  be,  for  the  simple  reason  that  he  could 
not  afford  to  be  guilty  of  enacting  so  grand  a 
farce;  nor  can  anj^  one,  who  will  reflect  for  a 
moment,  believe  that  the  great  Sovereign  of  the 
Universe  would  attempt  a  still  greater  impossi- 
bility by  endeavoring  to  conquer  a  world  with  a 
few  ministers,  however  efficient,  intrepid,  and 
consecrated  they  might  be.  Officers  are  necessary, 
we  grant,  but  they  are  not  one  particle  more  so 
than  are  the  common  soldiery — the  "rank  and 
file." 

on) 


132  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

Seeing,  then,  that  the  membership  constitutes  a 
most  important  element  in  the  grand  army  for 
the  subjugation  of  the  kingdoms  of  this  world  to 
"our  Lord  and  to  his  Christ,"  we  enter,  w^ithout 
additional  preliminary  remarks,  upon  the  con- 
sideration of  the  following  proposition : 

II. — THE  QUALIFICATIONS  AND  DUTIES  WHICH  ARE 
ESSENTIAL  TO  AN  EFFICIENT  CHURCH-MEMBER- 
SHIP. 

In  the  space  allotted  to  the  second  part  of  this 
little  work,  it  will  be  impossible  to  treat  exhaust- 
ively the  various  points  which  claim  our  attention ; 
nor  will  it  be  expected  that  all  the  qualifications 
requisite  for  efficient  Church-membership  will  be 
presented  in  this  brief  treatise — the  essential  only 
will  be  set  forth. 

1.  Regeneration,  or  the  '^new  birth," 

The  blessed  Saviour  said  to  ISTicodemus:  "Ex- 
cept a  man  be  born  again,  he  cannot  see  the  king- 
dom of  God."  (John  iii.  3.)  But  notwithstand- 
ing the  fact  that  this  is  the  basis  of  the  Christian 
life,  yet  there  are  thousands  upon  thousands — yea, 
millions,  it  may  be — belonging  to  the  Church  who 
are  totally  ignorant,  experimentally,  of  the  radi- 
cal change  insisted  upon  by  the  great  Teacher. 
It  would,  no  doubt,  be  safe  to  affirm  that  there  is 
not  a  Church  on  earth  whose  roll-book  corre- 
sponds with  the  roll-book  of  heaven. 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  133 

As  has  been  previously  stated,  every  thing  that 
is  good  in  this  life  has  its  counterfeits;  and  the 
religion  of  Jesus  Christ,  we  regret  to  say,  does 
not  form  an  excej^tion  to  the  remark.  A  great 
chemist,  a  few  years  ago,  discovered  that  by  using 
certain  ingredients  he  could  make  perfect  imita- 
tions of  the  most  beautiful  and  costly  diamonds; 
but  thousands  of  years  before  this  chemist  lived, 
the  devil  had  found  out  that  he  could  almost  per- 
fectly imitate  the  Lord's  jewels.  A  little  ortho- 
doxy, and  a  good  share  of  self-confidence,  with 
a  small  amount  of  good  works,  have  made  many 
a  child  of  Satan  look  very  much  like  the  child  of 
God.  But  let  us  remember  that  paste  is  not  dia- 
monds, nor  is  a  mere  profession  of  Christianity 
religion. 

The  Bible  teaches  that  there  have  ever  been  two 
classes  of  false  professors — the  hypocrite  and  the 
self-deceived.  Of  the  former  there  are  compara- 
tively few;  but  of  the  latter  their  name  is 
^'legion.''  Solomon  says,  "There  is  a  way  that 
seemetli  right  unto  a  man ;  but  the  end  thereof  are 
the  ways  of  death."  (Prov.  xiv.  12.)  Sincerity, 
then,  offers  no  conclusive  evidence  of  piety.  A 
person  may  be  sincere  in  the  belief  of  falsehood, 
as  well  as  in  the  belief  of  truth — sincere  in 
wrong-doing,  as  well  as  in  right-doing.  Paul 
tells  us  that  he  "verily  thought  that  he  ought  to 
do  many  things  contrary-  to  the  name  of  Jesus  of 
JSTazareth."  (See  Acts  xxvii.  9.)  Indeed,  under 
no  other  liyj^othesis  than  that  .many  are  self-de- 


134  PULPIT    AND    PEW, 

ceived,  can  we  explain  the  parables  of  the  "tares 
of  the  field,"  and  of  the  "net  cast  into  the  sea." 
(See  Matt.  xiii.  24-30;  xiii.  47-50.)  In  addition, 
we  have  the  most  solemn  warnings  of  Scripture: 
"Let  no  man  deceive  himself"  (1  Cor.  iii.  18.) 
"Let  every  man  prove  his  own  work."  (Gal.  vi. 
4.)  "Examine  yourselves  whether  ye  be  in  the 
faith;  prove  your  own  selves."  (2  Cor.  xiii.  5.) 
"Be  ye  doers  of  the  word,  and  not  hearers  only, 
deceiving  your  own  selves."     (James  i.  22.) 

One  of  the  most  melancholy  and  alarming 
things  connected  with  self-deception,  is  that  it  is 
almost  sure  to  prove  permanent.  Those  who  had 
built  upon  the  sand  are  represented  as  feeling 
perfectly  secure  until  "the  rains  descended,  and 
the  floods  came,  and  the  winds  blew,"  and  their 
house  was  utterly  destroyed.  (See  Matt.  viii.  27.) 
The  foolish  virgins,  too,  seemed  to  be  as  well 
satisfied  with  their  condition  as  were  the  wise. 
Nothing  but  the  unexpected  cry,  "Behold,  the 
bridegroom  cometh,  go  ye  out  to  meet  him,"  dis- 
turbed their  repose,  and  convinced  them  of  their 
folly.     (See  Matt,  xxv.) 

With  these  facts — Bible  facts — before  us,  how 
important  that  we  dig  deep  and  lay  a  solid 
foundation !  "All  is  not  gold  that  glitters." 
There  may  be  an  appearance  of  piety,  when  the 
reality  does  not  exist.  Hence,  we  should  rest 
upon  nothing  that  will  not  stand  the  most  crucial 
ordeal,  and  that  will  not  endure  the  coming 
storm.     True  piety,  like  gold,  will  bear  any  test 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  135 

that  can  be  applied,  and  will  be  all  the  brighter 
and  purer  for  it. 

Nothing  short  of  a  radical  change  can  consti- 
tute us  Christians.  Man  by  nature  is  not  par- 
tially but  entirely  depraved.  The  heart  is  no 
better  than  the  life.  If  the  fountain  be  pure,  tlite 
stream  will  be  so  likewise.  It  is  impossible  to 
cleanse  the  stream  while  the  fountain  is  corrupt. 
The  Pharisees  afforded  a  good  illustration  of  this 
thought.  But  the  great  Searcher  of  hearts  com- 
pared them  to  "whited  sepulchers,"  which,  how- 
ever beautiful  without,  are  "within  full  of  all 
manner  of  uncleanness."  (See  Matt,  xxiii.  27.) 
Outward  morality,  then,  is  not  enough.  There 
must  be  a  deeper  work — the  work  of  the  Spirit. 
Religion,  in  its  incipiency,  is  not  a  growth  but  a 
birth — not  the  germination  of  an  innate  principle, 
but  a  new  creation.  A  devout  and  exemplary  life 
is  the  fruit  of  such  a  creation — of  such  a  birth. 
"Good  works,"  therefore,  instead  of  being  the 
cause^  are  simply  the  effects  of  this  internal 
change — like  the  hands  on  the  dial-plate  of  the 
clock,  showing  that  there  is  a  power  within  which 
gives  them  motion. 

The  new  birth,  then,  is  the  corner-stone  of  the 
Christian  life;  and  without  it  there  can  be  no  re- 
ligious superstructure.  Bearing  this  thought  in 
mindi,  we  can  account  for  the  great  difference 
which  we  see  between  those  who  profess  to  be  the 
disciples  of  Christ.  Some  are  uj)on  the  rock; 
others  arc  upon  the  sand.     Some  have  laid  hold 


136  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

on  eternal  life;  others  have  only  a  "  name  to  live." 
Membership  in  the  Church  is  not  a  sufficient  test; 
nor  is  Christian  baptism.  Ananias  and  Sapphira 
belonged  to  the  Church,  and  had  been  baptized ; 
and  3'et  thej^  were  both  suddenly  struck  dead  in 
their  sins.  Simon  Magus  had  been  baptized;  and 
yet  he  continued  in  "the  gall  of  bitterness  and  in 
the  bond  of  iniquity."  The  blessed  Saviour  em- 
phasized this  thought  when  he  said :  "  Not  every 
one  that  shall  call  unto  me,  Lord,  Lord,  shall 
enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  Many  will 
say  to  me  in  that  day,  Lord,  Lord,  have  we  not 
prophesied  in  thy  name?  and  in  thy  name  cast 
out  devils,  and  in  thy  name  done  many  wonder- 
ful works?  And  then  will  I  profess  unto  them, 
I  never  knew  you."     (Matt.  vii.  21-23.) 

Improvements  have  been  made  in  science,  agri- 
culture, etc.,  but  none  whatever  in  that  new  birth 
upon  which  the  Saviour  insisted.  From  death  to 
life  is  the  greatest  of  all  changes ;  but  no  change 
short  of  this  can  fit  the  soul  for  heaven.  As  one 
of  England's  greatest  divines  said:  "It  is  not  a 
little  reforming  that  will  save  a  sinner.  No,  nor 
all  the  morality  in  the  world,  nor  the  outward 
change  of  the  life:  they  will  not  do  unless  we 
have  a  new  life  wrought  in  us."  But  as  in  nature, 
so  in  the  Church,  there  are  abortions — untimely 
births — and  there  are  spiritual  as  well  as  mejical 
accoucheurs  who  are  ever  ready  to  assist  in  these 
miscarriages.  But  the  true  children  of  God  are 
not  still  born;    and    it   is  a  great   calamity  that 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  137 

ppiritual  abortions  are  permitted  to  occur.  Simply 
because,  therefore,  one  has  for  many  long  years 
been  a  member  of  the  Church,  is  no  evidence,  in 
itself,  of  conversion.  There  must  be  growth ;  but 
until  a  spiritual  life  has  been  implanted,  there  can 
be  none.  A  lifeless  branch,  however  long  it  may 
be  in  the  ground,  will  not  grow.  Finger-boards 
stand  for  ages,  and  measure  distances  for  travelers, 
but  never  advance  one  inch.  In  the  language  of 
another,  "Very  much  of  the  religion  of  the  day 
is  an  easy-minded  religion,  without  conflict  and 
wrestling  with  self-denial  and  sacrifice — a  religion 
which  knows  nothing  of  the  pangs  of  the  new 
birth  at  its  commencement,  and  nothing  of  the 
desperate  struggle  with  the  flesh  and  with  the 
devil,  day  by  day,  making  us  long  for  resurrection, 
for  deliverance,  for  the  Lord's  return,  It  is  a  second- 
rate  religion — a  religion  in  which  there  is  no  large- 
ness, no  grandeur,  no  potency,  no  noble  mildness,  no 
all-constraining  love.  It  is  a  hollow  religion,  with 
a  fair  exterior,  but  with  an  aching  heart — a  heart 
imsatisfied,  a  soal  not  at  rest,  a  conscience  not  at 
peace  with  God ;  a  religion  marked,  it  may  be.  by 
activity  and  excitement,  but  betraying  all  the 
while  the  consciousness  of  a  wound  hidden  and 
unhealed  within,  and  hence  unable  to  animate  to 
lofty  doings,  or  supply  the  strength  needed  for 
such  doing.  It  is  a  feeble  religion,  lacking  the 
sinews  and  bones  of  happier  times,  very  diff'erent 
from  the  indomitable,  much-enduring,  storm- 
braving  religion,   not  merely  of  apostolic   days, 


138  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

but  even  of  the  Reformation.  It  is  an  uncertain 
religion — that  is  to  say,  it  is  not  rooted  on  cer- 
tainty ;  it  is  not  the  outflowing  of  the  soul  assured 
of  pardon,  and  rejoicing  in  the  filial  relationship 
between  itself  and  God.  Hence,  there  is  no 
liberty  of  service,  for  the  question  of  personal 
acceptance  is  still  an  unsettled  thing;  there  is  a 
working  for  pardon.  All  is  thus  bondage,  heavi- 
ness, irksomeness;  there  is  a  speaking  of  God, 
but  it  is  with  a  faltering  tongue;  there  is  a  labor- 
ing for  God,  but  it  is  vith  fettered  hands;  there 
is  a  movement  in  the  way  of  his  command,  but  it 
is  with  a  heavy  drag  upon  our  limbs.  Hence,  the 
inefficient,  uninfluential  character  of  our  religion. 
It  does  not  tell  on  others,  for  it  has  not  fully  told 
upon  ourselves.  It  falls  short  of  its  mark;  the 
arm  that  drew  the  bow  is  paralyzed." 

The  points,  then,  to  be  settled  by  every  Church- 
member  are:  "Am  I  in  a  state  of  nature,  or 
in  a  state  of  grace — in  a  state  of  justification  or 
in  a  state  of  condemnation?  Am  I  a  child  of  God 
or  a  child  of  Satan — an  object  of  Divine  favor,  or 
an  object  of  Divine  wrath?" 

If  the  foregoing  questions  can  be  answered  in 
the  proper  way,  there  can  be  no  doubt  as  to  the 
certainty  of  the  first  essential  qualification  of 
efficient  Church-membership;  and  it  is  not  only 
the  privilege  but  the  duty  of  those  who  can  so 
answer  to  become  members  of  some  orthodox 
branch  of  the  Church-militant — of  that  denomi- 
nation whose  doctrines  and  usages,  in  their  ojDin- 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  139 

ion,  come  nearest  to  the  teachings  of  the  Sacred 
Scriptures,  and  in  which  they  conscientiously  be- 
lieve they  can  do  the  most  good. 

2.  They  must  have  the  gospel — the  means  of 
grace. 

Eegeneration,  as  we  have  seen,  is  the  basis  of 
Christian  life — the  only  foundation  on  which  a 
superstructure  of  practical  godliness  can  be 
erected.  This  "  new  birth,"  however,  simply 
brings  the  child  of  God  into  existence;  and  though 
complete  in  his  formation,  yet,  like  the  new-born 
infant,  he  is  undeveloped.  The  Church,  then,  like 
a  "nursing  mother,"  must  take  the  offspring  born 
in  her  household,  and  develop  them  into  full- 
grown  men  and  women.  Without  this  culture 
they  would  ever,  in  this  life,  remain  "new-born 
babes,"  unable,  wholly  so,  to  "endure  strong 
meat." 

One  great  purpose  of  the  Church,  then,  is  to 
develop  the  Christian.  He,  it  is  true,  as  soon  as 
he  is  regenerated,  is  a  "fit  subject"  for  heaven; 
and  if  he  were  to  die  in  one  moment  thereafter 
he  would  be  saved.  But,  in  that  case,  he  would 
enter  the  world  of  bliss  as  a  child;  and  would 
there,  so  to  speak,  have  to  join  the  "Infant  Class," 
and  receive  that  training  and  development  which 
would  capacitate  him  for  the  "unceasing  and  ex- 
panding joys"  of  that  bright  world.  It  is,  there- 
fore, a  wise  provision  of  our  Heavenly  Father 
that  while  the  Christian  remains  upon  earth  he 


140  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

should  have  the  advantage  of  that  tutoring  which 
will  develop  the  faculties  of  his  spiritual  nature. 
The  gospel  of  Christ  is  the  great  text-book  from 
which  those  truths  must  come  that  will  give  the 
needed  instruction.  This,  though,  like  text-books 
in  secular  educatiou,  in  order  to  be  made  efficient, 
must  be  in  the  hands  of  an  instructor;  and  as  in 
secular  education,  too,  there  must  be  a  ]place  where 
the  information  is  imparted.  Heaven's  ordained 
instructor  is  the  minister  of  the  gos^Del,  and  the 
chief  center  from  which  this  light  is  to  radiate 
is  the  pulpit. 

~^o  Christian,  then,  can  afford  to  be  deprived 
of  the  means  of  grace.  It  would  be  just  as  rea- 
sonable— yea,  more  so — to  expect  people  to  be- 
come eminent  scholars  without  teachers  and 
school-houses,  as  it  would  be  for  Church-members 
to  become  eminent  Christians  without  ministers 
and  churches.  Indeed,  a  high  order  of  Christian 
development  is  next  to  an  impossibility  where  the 
pulpit  does  not  exist.  Look  where  we  may,  we 
will  always  find  that  the  most  devoted,  the  most 
consecrated,  the  most  efficient  Christians  are  those 
who,  Sabbath  after  Sabbath,  receive  the  message 
of  salvation  as  it  comes  from  the  warm  heart  of  a 
faithful  minister. 

Not  only  is  the  gospel  needed  to  develop  the 
Christian,  but,  likewise,  to  save  the  sinner.  Tlie 
religion  of  the  Bible  alone  can  satisfy  the  crav- 
ings of  the  immortal  spirit.  Human  philosoph}^, 
in  none  of  its  forms,  can  do  this.     All  that  it  can 


Pl'LPIT    AND    PEW.  141 

do  is  to  gauge  the  mind,  and  tell  how  capacious 
it  is;  but  it  cannot  reveal  the  source  from  which 
the  "new  wine  of  consolation"  is  to  come,  which 
is  to  fill  the  empty  vessel.  The  only  panacea  for 
the  "world's  woes"  is  the  gospel  of  Christ.  This 
gospel,  too,  has  ever  been  a  "tree  ofdife"  to  all 
that  have  sat  beneath  its  shade  and  partaken  of 
its  blessed  fruits.  The  people  who  have  never 
enjoyed  its  blessings  have  been  compelled  to  feed 
upon  husks  fitted  only  for  swine — yea,  have  been 
moral  paupers,  and  have  died  the  most  pitiable 
of  all  deaths — death  from  starvation  ! 

The  Christian  pulpit  is  the  institution  which, 
above  all  others,  has  elevated  the  commtinities  in 
which  it  has  been  stationed — has  girded  them 
with  a  zone  of  light,  and  shed  ujDon  them  the 
sweet  influences  of  heavenly  mercy.  Its  impor- 
tance cannot  possibly  be  over-estimated.  It  has 
been  the  great  educator  of  the  world — has  done 
more  to  arouse  the  intellect,  awaken  investigation, 
promote  civilization,  and  advance  learning  than 
any  other  agency  known  to  man.  It  is  the  grand 
lever  which,  in  all  ages,  has  elevated  human 
society.  ^N'othing  can  withstand  its  influence 
when  properly  wielded.  The  Eoman  power,  be- 
fore which  the  nations  of  the  earth  bowed  in  ser- 
vile subjection,  could  not  overcome  the  fishermen 
of  Galilee,  but  was  conquered  by  them.  Histo- 
rians have  made  the  success  of  Alexander  the 
Great  in  stibduing  the  Persian  empire,  with  an 
army  of  thirty  thousand,  the  theme  of  glowing 


142  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

eulogies,  both  in  prose  and  verse;  but  what  was 
this  to  the  conquests  of  one  little  band  of  apostles? 
Without  arms,  without  allies,  without  influence, 
without  allurements,  Christianity  went  forth  from 
its  lowly  hovel  in  Bethlehem — seized  upon  Jeru- 
salem, Ephesus,  Corinth,  Alexandria,  Rome,  over- 
turned idols,  altars,  temples — swept  away  the  re- 
ligious formations  of  centuries,  ascended  the  im- 
perial throne,  waved  its  white  flag  of  "peace  and 
good-will,"  and  said  to  all  "tongues  and  kindred" 
come  unto  me,  and  J  will  give  you  rest. 

If  these  things  be  true,  we  see  the  importance — 
yea,  the  infinite  importance — of  having  the  gospel 
in  every  city,  town,  village,  and  hamlet  in  this 
broad  land.  A  locality  without  it  is  in  moral 
darkness — darkness  so  deep,  so  dens^,  that  its 
people  sit  in  the  "region  and  shadow  of  death." 
Yet,  be  it  said  in  sorrow,  there  are  thousands 
upon  thousands  of  localities,  and  in  Christian 
lands,  too,  where  the  privileges  and  blessings  of 
the  sanctuary  are  scarcely  known — localities  in 
which  the  people  are  "well-to-do,"  have  fertile 
lands  and  comfortable  homes  of  their  own,  but 
meager  or  no  gospel  immunities — localities  in 
which  each  one  can  say  in  the  language  of  David 
when  weeping  over  a  somewhat  similar  state  of 
thinirs,  "I  dwell  in  an  house  of  cedar,  but  the 
ark  of  God  dwelleth  within  curtains"  (2  Sam. 
vii.  2.) — localities  in  which  there  were  once  com- 
fortable houses  of  worship,  in  which  the  "candle 
of  the  Lord   shone    brightly,"  and  where  "sons 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  143 

and  daughters  were  born  to  God";  but  which,  by 
neglect  and  penuriousness,  have  been  permitted 
to  go  to  ruin — localities  in  which,  Sabbath  after 
Sabbath,  the  faithful  "messenger  of  the  skies" 
preached  "  Jesus  and  the  resurrection  "  to  attentive 
ears  and  responsive  hearts ;  but  where  the  voice 
oT  the  man  of  God  is  hushed  in  silence,  and 
where  no  congregation  gathers  to  worship — local- 
ities in  which  "sin  runs  riot,"  and  where  the 
few  professed  Christians  who  still  remain,  have, 
like  Lot  of  old,  so  far  yielded  to  the  vices  of  their 
ungodly  neighbors  that  they  have  become  utter 
strangers  to  the  enjoyments  of  religion,  and  have 
seen  their  children  grow  up  in  everlasting 
shame — localities  in  which,  if  there  is  a  place  for 
public  worship,  it  is  so  forbidding  and  so  uncom- 
fortable, that  it  is  a  fit  habitation  for  the  owl  and 
the  bat,  scarcely  suitable  for  a  "  den  of  thieves," 
and  which  stands  as  a  monument  not  only  to  tell 
the  passing  stranger  but  the  children  of  that  com- 
munity the  estimate  which  these  people  have  of 
God  and  the  religion  of  the  Bible ! 

Some  may,  and  doubtless  do,  think  the  picture 
overdrawn ;  but  it  is  not.  There  are,  we  repeat, 
thousands  upon  thousands  of  just  such  places  in 
this  goodly  land.  What  a  shame!  No  greater 
calamity  could  befall  a  peo^^le  than  to  be  thus 
Rituated.  Of  all  the  calamities  that  ever  cursed 
this  earth,  an  utter  dearth  of  gospel  privileges  is 
the  most  to  be  dreaded  and  deplored.  War  with 
its  bloody  scjHhe  may  mow  down  its  thousands; 


144  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

pestilence  with  its  leprous  hand  ma}^  slay  its  mill- 
ions; famine  with  its  blighting  breath  may 
"wither  every  green  herb."  But  those  thus  cut 
downi  may  have  "bands  in  their  death, "_while 
those  who  die  without  the  gospel  and  the  conso- 
lation it  can  give,  are  without  hope  and  without 
God  in  the  world. 

Where,  then,  is  the  child  of  Grod  that  is  willing 
to  live  without  the  means  of  grace?  Where  are 
the  Christian  parents  who  are  willing  to  bring  up 
their  children  in  a  locality  in  which  they  cannot 
enjoy  the  ordinances  of  God's  house?  They  had 
better — infinitely  better — withhold  from  their  off- 
spring the  good  things  of  this  life  than  to  deprive 
them  of  the  hopes  and  consolations  of  that  which 
is  to  come.  God  virtually  says  to  all  parents 
when  a  son  or  daughter  is  born  unto  them,  "Take 
this  child  and  nurse  it  for  me,  and  I  will  jDay  thee 
thy  wages."  What  a  treasure  is  thus  committed 
to  Christian  parents!  Will  they,  can  they  be  in- 
different? When  their  children  are  dangerously 
ill,  they  call  for  the  services  of  the  most  skillful 
physicians;  nor  do  they  for  a  moment  stop  to 
consider  the  item  of  cost.  Likewise,  when  they 
are  to  be  educated,  they  employ  the  best  talent; 
and  use  money  without  stint.  In  both  instances 
they  are  to  be  commended ;  for  they  are  simply 
discharging  the  duties  which  God  and  human 
society  have  enjoined  upon  them.  But  how  dif- 
ferent in  reference  to  "  everlasting  things  " !  The 
declaration  is  made  in  the  deepest  sorrow,  but  it 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  145 

is  truQ:  3Iany  fKirents  seem  to  regard  as  lost  that 
which  they  expend  for  the  gospel.  In  a  religious 
point  of  view,  they  seem  to  be  utterly  oblivious 
to  the  wants  of  their  children.  They  could  not 
bear  to  hear  them  cry  for  bread — would  feel  that 
they  ought  to  be  execrated  by  God  and  man  if 
they  were  to  permit  their  dependent  ones  to 
starve  for  food;  but  they  seem  to  forget  that  their 
children  are  ^^not  to  live  by  bread  alone,  but  by 
every  word  that  proceedeth  out  of  the  mouth  of 
God" — forget  that  their  children  have  souls  as 
well  as  bodies — souls,  too,  which  hunger  and 
thirst  for  the  bread  and  water  of  life  just  as 
keenly  as  their  bodies  do  for  temporal  bread  and 
water.  The  plea  of  poverty  which  is  often  made 
as  an  excuse  for  the  lack  of  this  spiritual  provis- 
ion may  satisfy  a  penurious  jDrofessor  of  religion, 
but  it  cannot  satisfy  the  conscience  of  a  genuine 
Christian.  The  same  money  expended,  in  any 
locality,  for  school-houses,  for  teachers,  for  phy- 
sicians, for  lawyers,  would  more  than  make  ample 
provision' for  the  means  of  grace  in  that  com- 
munity. Is  the  minister  of  Jesus  Christ  of  less 
importance  than  these?  Again,  the  taxes — State, 
county,  and  municipal — paid  by  any  people 
would  give  them  the  sanctuary  with  all  of  its 
hallowed  blessings  every  Sabbath.  Are  the 
courts  of  Csesar  more  important  than  the  temples 
of  God?  Surely  no  one,  not  even  the  infidel,  will 
so  say;  for,  though  the  latter  may  mock  at  re- 
ligion, yet  no  one  is  more  eager  than  he  to  enjoy 
10 


146  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

the  protection  to  person  and  property  which  the 
sanctuary  insures. 

Let,  then,  no  Christian  commiuiity  feel  that  it 
has  met  its  duties  to  God  and  man  unless  it  has 
made  provision  for  the  means  of  grace.  David 
did  a  greater  and  better  work  for  Israel  when  he 
purchased  the  threshing  floor  of  Araunah,  built 
an  altar  to  God,  offered  a  sacrifice  thereon,  and 
stayed  the  raging  pestilence,  than  when  in  his 
kingly  power  he  executed  his  edicts  against  his 
most  bitter  enemies.  This  provision  upon  which 
we  are  insisting,  too,  must  be  worthy  of  the  cause 
in  behalf  of  which  it  is  made.  Every  neat,  com- 
fortable, attractive  church-building  is  an  anthem 
to  God;  and  when  oecuj^ied  by  a  faithful,  conse- 
crated, efficient  minister,  it  is  a  ^'city  set  upon 
a  hill."  On  the  contrary,  every  untidy,  dark, 
dingy,  uncomfortable  "meeting-house"  is  a  dis- 
grace to  any  Christian  community — yea,  an  an- 
them to  Satan.  In  a  word,  no  people,  claiming 
to  be  Christians,  can  say  that  they  have  met 
their  obligations  in  this  particular  until  the  house 
of  God  is  the  most  attractive  place  in  any  com- 
munity— until  it  can  be  said,  "How  amiable 
[pleasant,  delightful,  soul-cheering]  are  thy  taber- 
nacles, O  Lord  of  hosts !" 

3.   They  must  attend  the  sanctuary. 

Man  is  a  social  being;  and  the  religion  of  the 
Bible  is  a  social  principle.  It  was  never  intended 
by  our  Heavenly  Father  that  any  human  being 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  147 

should  be  independent  of  all  the  rest;  nor  has 
such  a  person  ever  existed  from  the  birth  of  the 
race.  Indeed,  this  principle  of  interdependence 
is  seen  not  only  in  the  human  family,  but 
throughout  the  inferior  grades  of  creation— 4n 
the  animal,  the  vegetable,  and  the  mineral  king- 
doms. While,  therefore,  the  Book  of  books 
teaches  that  "no  man  liveth  to  himself,"  the  book 
of  Nature  teaches  that  not  a  single  created  thing 
exists  independently.  Look  where  we  may, 
throughout  the  vast  dominions  of  God,  we  see 
this  great  truth  everywhere  taught.  This  asser- 
tion is  as  applicable  to  the  giant  as  to  the  infant, 
to  the  oak  as  to  the  violet,  to  the  leviathan  as  to 
the  animalcule,  to  the  ocean  as  to  the  rivulet,  to 
the  universe  as  to  the  atom. 

The  All-wise  Creator  had  a  purpose  in  thus 
linking,  so  to  speak,  the  different  parts  of  this 
"grand  harmonious  whole";  but  this  is  neither 
the  time  nor  the  place  to  enter  into  an  investiga- 
tion of  that  purpose,  except  so  far  as  man  is  con  ■ 
eerned  in  a  religious  point  of  view.  His  entire 
being — physical,  mental,  and  moral — proves  that 
he  was  made  to  worship.  This  worship  consists 
of  two  kinds — private  and  public.  Private  devo- 
tion is  necessary — yea,  essential;  but  it  is  not 
sufficient,  inasmuch  as  it  fails  to  bring  into  requi- 
sition man's  religious  influence  as  a  social  being. 
He  may  worship  God  in  the  closet — indeed,  he 
must  do  so;  but  so  far  as  the  world  is  concerned, 
it  is  a  "light  under  a  bushel,"  and  not  "on  a 


148  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

candlcstiok."  Private  devotion  is  not  public 
worship;  nor  can  it  ever  supersede  it  anymore 
than  private  study  can  supersede  public  educa- 
tion. Indeed,  that  piety  is  worth  but  liitle  which 
shuns  expression,  and  association  with  the  good 
m  a  universal  duty — wliich  talks  of  seeing  God 
in  the  sun,  in  the  sky,  in  the  waterfall,  yet  can- 
not view  him  in  his  own  house,  at  his  own  altars, 
and  in  his  own  ordinances.  Such  sainthood, 
makes  no  impression  upon  the  world.  It  is  a 
piety  which  Moses,  Isaiah,  Paul,  and  the  Eedeemer 
never  knew.  Public  worship  is  God's  method  of 
letting  one's  Christian  "light  shine  before  men." 
This  kind  of  worship  too,  is  as  old  as  the  human 
race,  as  is  evidenced  by  the  conduct  of  Cain  and 
Abel.  It  is  a  fact,  also,  w^hich  no  reader  of  the 
Bible  will  controvert,  that  throughout  the  whole 
Jewish  dispensation  God  demanded  public  wor- 
ship, as  the  history  of  the  tabernacle  and  of  the 
temple  clearly  demonstrates.  The  men,  likewise, 
most  eminent  in  holiness — such  men  as  Noah, 
Abraham,  Moses,  Samuel,  Daniel,  etc. — belonging 
to  the  same  dispensation,  were  the  most  faithful 
and  constant  in  this  public  worship.  It  is  also 
true,  that  some  of^  the  severest  punishments  in- 
flicted upon  the  children  of  Israel  were  for  neg- 
lecting the  public  worship  of  God. 

The  same  is  true,  and  to  a  greatly  enlarged  ex- 
tent, too,  of  the  Christian  dispensation.  The 
blessed  Saviour,  while  he  led  a  spotless  life  in 
private,  was  careful  to  attend  the  synagogues, 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  149 

and  there  engage  in  public  worship.  Indeed,  he 
gave  utterance  to  the  great  truth  that,  "  neither 
in  this  mountain,  nor  yet  at  Jerusalem,"  should 
God  be  worshiped,  but  everywhere.  (See  John 
iv.  21.)  He  came  to  reform  the  world  — "to  seek 
and  to  save  that  which  was  lost" — and  he  knew 
that  the  only  way  to  accomplish  his  mission  was 
to  proclaim  the  great  truths  of  the  gospel  in  pub- 
lic— to  the  people  assembled  for  that  purpose. 
So,  too,  of  the  apostles.  They  "turned  the  w^orld 
upside  down  "  by  the  public  administration  of 
the  word.  In  brief,  all  the  aggressive  steps 
which  Bible-truth  has  taken,  in  all  ages,  have 
been  the  results  of  public  worship — it  is  God's 
chief  plan  for  the  redemption  of  a  lost  world. 

With  these  facts  in  view,  where  is  the  Christian 
who  does  not  see  and  feel  the  importance  of  at- 
tending the  sanctuary?  The  instincts  of  piety, 
in  all  Christian  lands,  promj)t  the  children  of  God 
to  associate  together,  that  at  set  times  and  in 
sacred  places,  with  "praise  and  prayer"  they  may 
worship  the  Supreme  Being.  Indeed,  this  form 
of  worship  is  as  wide-spread  as  the  human  race, 
j^or  is  there  any  duty  more  reasonable. 

The  Christian  should  attend  the.  sanctuary  be- 
cause it  is  his  Father's  house.  It  is  true,  as  the 
Psalmist  says,  "The  heaven  of  heavens  cannot 
contain"  God;  but  it  is  also  true  that,  in  one 
sense,  the  sanctuary  is  his  dwelling-place.  It  is 
there  that  God  reveals  himself  to  his  children  in 
a  peculiar  manner.     During  the  Old  Dispensation 


150  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

the  tabernacle  and  the  temple  were  the  places 
where  God  manifested  himself;  and  to  enjoy  that 
manifestation,  the  true  Israelite  must  go  there  to 
worship.  The  same  is  true  to-day.  We,  of  course, 
admit  that  Grod  is  everywhere — in  the  valley,  on 
the  mountain,  and  in  every  place  in  the  vast  do- 
minions of  the  universe;  but  he  is  there  as  the 
Creator  of  all  things,  and  not  as  the  Father  of  the 
soul.  There  is  no  "Our  Father"  in  any  or  all  of 
these. 

Another  reason  why  the  Christian  should  at- 
tend the  sanctuary  is,  because  Christ  has  promised 
to  meet  him  there.  "Where  two  or  three  are 
gathered  together  in  my  name,  there  am  I  in 
their  midst."  (Matt,  xviii.  20.)  It  requires,  as 
Avill  be  seen  from  the  passage  quoted,  but  a  small 
audience  to  secure  his  presence;  still,  it  is  a  pub- 
lic service.  What  a  presence,  too,  is  promised! 
All  of  us,  perhaps,  have  often  Avished  that  we  had 
lived  in  the  days  of  his  incarnation,  that  we 
might  have  seen  him  with  our  eyes,  heard  him 
with  our  ears,  and  touched  him  with  our  hands; 
but  if  we  will  only  think  for  a  moment,  it  is  a 
vain  and  foolish  wish.  Jesus  is  as  really  present 
to-day  in  a  sanctuary  of  devout  worshipers  as  he 
was  with  Peter  and  John  when  he  went  with 
them  to  the  temple.  AYe  cannot  see  him,  it  is 
true;  but  sight  is  no  evidence  of  nearness.  We 
cannot  see  the  air,  nor  the  electric  principle;  and 
yet  they  surround  us — yea,  dwell  in  us! 

In  the  next  place,  the  Christian  should  attend 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  151 

the  sanctuary  because  it  is  his  birthplace.  What 
11  dear  phice  is  the  "  old  homestead  " — the  place  of 
our  natural  birth,  the  scenes  of  childhood,  and  the 
haunts  of  our  youthful  days!  It  is  rarely  the 
case  that  one  becomes  so  sunken  in  shame  as  that 
he  ceases  to  love  the  place  where  he  was  born. 
Often  we  see  persons  of  three-score-and-ten  mak- 
ing long  and  weary  pilgrimages  to  the  place  of 
their  nativity.  It  may  be  in  the  possession  of 
strangers,  but  it  matters  not;  it  is  still  a  sacred 
spot — the  place  where  father  and  mother  sat,  and 
where  brothers  and  sisters  played — the  spring, 
the  orchard,  the  meadow — 0  how  sacred !  It  is 
just  so  with  the  Christian  in  reference  to  the 
sanctuary.  It  is  his  birthplace;  and  how  tender 
are  the  associations  which  are  entwined  about  it! 
There,  perhaps,  he  shed  the  first  penitential  tear; 
there  he  resolved,  by  the  Holy  S2)irit's  assistance, 
to  be  a  Christian;  there  he  gave  his  heart  to  God  ; 
there  he  felt  the  ineffable  joys  of  salvation.  Why, 
then,  should  he  not  love  a  place  so  sacred,  so 
hallowed?  Who  could  censure  him  if  he  were  to 
exclaim  in  the  language  of  Peter  on  the  mount 
of  transfiguration,  "Lord,  it  is  good  to  be  here." 
(Matt.  xvii.  4.) 

An  additional  reason  why  the  Christian  should 
attend  the  sanctuary  is,  it  is  the  place  where  he 
meets  his  brethren.  One  of  the  tests  given  by 
Divine  authority  for  true  religion  is  love  for  the 
brethren.  '-We  know  that  we  have  passed  from 
death  unto  life,  because  we  love  the  brethren." 


152  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

(1  John  iii.  14.)  "He  that  loveth  not  his  brother 
whom  he  hath  seen,  how  can  he  love  God  whom 
he  hath  not  seen?"  (1  John  iv.  20.)  There  is  a 
strong,  yea,  indescribable,  attachment  in  the 
bosoms  of  all  Christians  for  one  another;  nor  is 
it  strange  that  it  should  be  so.  They  are  children 
of  the  same  loving  Father,  soldiers  in  the  same 
grand  army,  and  pilgrims  on  the  same  delightful 
journey.  Does  the  boy  love  his  brother,  the  sol- 
dier his  comrade,  the  traveler  his  companion? 
Then  why  should  not  the  Christian  love  the  sanct- 
uary, the  common  house  of  himself  and  his 
brethren — brethren  born  of  the  same  Father,  in 
the  same  household;  and  having  the  same  hopes 
and  fears,  the  same  jo^^s  and  sorrows;  and  all 
heirs  to  the  same  inheritance,  "an  inheritance 
incorruptible,  undefiled,  and  that  fadeth  not 
away." 

Furthermore,  the  Christian  should  attend  the 
sanctuary  because  of  the  happy  influences  which 
it  exerts.  No  one,  not  even  the  infidel,  can  deny 
the  truth  of  this  statement.  Aside  from  its  posi- 
tive, it  exerts  a  most  powerful  negative  in- 
fluence. In  a  pecuniary  point  of  view,  no  in- 
vestment of  like  amount  pays  so  well  as  contri- 
butions to  the  house  of  God.  It  is  a  fact  of  his- 
tory that  the  sanctuary  lessens  the  number  of 
inmates  in  prisons  and  almshouses.  The  duties 
of  the  officers  of  the  law  are  diminished  in  pro- 
portion as  the  house  of  God  is  respected.  As  the 
Church    is    enlarged,    the    burglar   is    excluded. 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  153 

"  Where  God's  altars  burn,  we  have  fewer  incendi- 
ary fires.  Those  who  pay  the  Lord's  cheap  tithes 
for  the  support  of  the  sanctuary,  escape  the 
devil's  heavy  taxes  for  the  commission  of  crime. 
To  talk  about  the  burdens  of  the  house  of  God  is 
sheer  nonsense,  when  we  call  to  mind  those  which 
result  from  its  neglect;  for  if  religion  has  its  serv- 
ice, irreligion  has  its  slavery,  and  no  exactions 
are  so  cruel  and  heavy  as  those  of  sin." 

Finally,  the  Christian  should  attend  the  sanct- 
uary because  of  the  delightful  rejDast  which  it 
affords  his  hungry  and  thirsty  spirit.  It  is,  as 
the  Psalmist  expresses  it,  "the  gate  of  heaven." 
The  house  of  God  is  the  nearest  place  to  heaven 
in  all  this  sinful  world.  Without  it,  the  world  is 
a  desert,  and  its  pillows  are  stones;  but  the  sanct- 
uary is  the  resting-place  of  that  ladder  which 
reaches  from  earth  to  heaven,  and  on  which  the 
angels  ascend  and  descend.  In  a  word,  heaven  is 
but  the  earthly  sanctuary  continued.  John,  in 
the  Apocalypse,  expressed  the  same  sentiment 
when  he  said,  "I  saw  the  holy  city,  New  Jerusa- 
lem, coming  down  from  God,  out  of  heaven,"  etc. 
(See  Eev.  xxi.  2.) 

It  is,  then,  the  imperative  duty  of  every 
Church-member  to  attend  the  services  of  the 
sanctuary  when  not  providentially  hindered. 
The  great  Head  of  the  Church  has  established  the 
sanctuary  and  its  ordinances  for  the  highest  ends 
to  the  human  race;  and  his  children  cannot  neg- 
lect   them  without   doing   much  to  defeat  those 


15-1  rULPlT    AND    I'EW. 

ends.  Indeed,  to  neglect  them  is  to  help  to  de- 
stro}"  them.  Absence  from  the  sanctuary,  when  it 
can  be  avoided,  dishonors  the  Saviour,  brings 
his  cause  into  disrepute  before  the  world,  dis- 
heartens fellow-Christians,  chills  the  heart  of  the 
minister,  and  bolts  the  door  against  those  bless- 
ings which  are  in  store  for  the  faithful  worshiper. 
The  Christian,  then,  should  make  greater  sacri- 
fices to  be  at  the  sanctuary  than  to  be  at  any 
place  appointed  for  worldly  business.  In  brief, 
the  habit  of  attending  the  sanctuary  should  be  so 
firmly  established  by  every  Christian,  who  is  not 
physically  disabled,  that  he  feels  sorely  uncom- 
fortable if  compelled  to  be  absent.  God  has 
spoken  upon  this  matter,  and  if  we  neglect  to 
hear  and  heed,  we  do  so  at  our  own  peril  and 
that  of  others.  "Not  forsaking  the  assembling 
of  ourselves  together,  as  the  manner  of  some  is." 
(Ileb.  X.  25.)  "Blessed  are  they  that  dwell  in  thy 
house:  they  will  be  still  j^raising  thee."  (Ps. 
Ixxxiv.  4.) 

4.  They  must  he  circumspect  in  their  walk — must 
be  consistent  Christians. 

While  the  blessed  Saviour  was  upon  earth  he 
was  the  exponent — yea,  the  embodiment — of  the 
religion  which  he  came  to  teach  and  exhibit.  He 
could  not,  however,  speak  to  all,  nor  could  he  ap- 
pear to  all,  during  the  brief  period  in  which  he 
sojourned  among  men.  He,  therefore,  said  to  his 
followers — all  of  them — "  Ye  arc  the  light  of  the 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  155 

world";  and  then  he  added  with  the  same  em- 
phasis, "Let  your  light  so  shine  before  men,  that 
they  may  see  your  good  works,  and  glorify  3^our 
Father  which  is  in  heaven."  (Matt.  v.  14,  16.) 
His  reason,  no  doubt,  for  making  these  declara- 
tions, was  that  the  world  of  sinners  is  influenced 
more  by  the  lives  which  Christians  lead  than  by 
the  pj^ofessions  which  they  make.  ^ 

A  consistent  life,  then,  is  the  greatest  influence 
which  the  child  of  God  can  wield;  and  it  is  one 
of  Heaven's  mightiest  instrumentalities  for  the 
accomplishment  of  good  on  earth.  The  Bible, 
folded  between  lids  of  cloth,  of  calf-skin,  or  of 
morocco,  is  a  great  blessing;  but  when,  in  the 
shape  of  a  human  being,  it  goes  out  into  the 
world,  a  Bible  illustrated,  it  exerts  a  much  greater 
influence  than  the  mere  printed  page:  There  is, 
indeed,  a  moral  omnipotence  in  a  holy  life.  Argu- 
ment may  be  resisted;  and  persuasion  and  en- 
treat}^ may  be  ridiculed  and  scorned.  The  thrill- 
ing and  touching  ap2">eals  from  the  pulj^it,  though 
set  forth  with  the  logic  of  a  Paul,  or  with  the 
eloquence  of  a  Cephas,  may  be  evaded  or  disre- 
garded. But  the  exhibition  of  exalted  piety  has 
a  power  which  no  human  can  disregard  and  de- 
spise. It  is  the  essence  of  truth — truth  focalized — 
truth  embodied,  l^o  sophistry  can  elude  it.  No 
conscience  can  ward  it  off.  No  bosom  wears  a 
coat  of  mail  strong  enough  to  resist  the  energy 
of  its  attack.  It  speaks  in  all  languages,  in  all 
climes,  and  to  all  phases  of  human  nature.     It  is 


15(3  I'L'LI'iT    AND    PEW. 

the  gospel,  burning  in  the  hearts,  beaming  from 
the  eyes,  breathing  from  the  lips,  and  preachina 
in  the  lives  of  its  votaries.  In  a  word,  it  is  a 
perpetual  sermon — a  sermon  which,  like  the  light 
of  the  sun,  repeats  itself  day  by  day. 

The  great  teacher  said,  "If  any  man  will  bo 
my  discijile,  let  him  deny*  himself,  and  take  up 
his  cross  and  follow  me."  (Matt.  xvi.  24.)  He 
also  said,  in  speaking  of  his  cliildren,  that  they 
are  "  in  the  world,"  but  "  not  of  the  world,"  (See 
John  xvii.  12,  14.) 

These  scriptures,  with  many  similar  passages 
which  might  be  quoted,  clearly  teach  that  there 
is  a  well-defined  line  of  separation  between 
Christians  and  sinners — between  the  Church  and 
the  world.  But  there  are  many  whose  names  arc 
upon  the  Church-book  who  seem  to  have  made  a 
treaty  of  peace  with  the  world.  The  terms  of 
this  treaty  are  that  they  will  not  interfere  with 
the  world  in  its  pleasures  and  in  its  sins,  provided 
that  they,  when  it  suits  their  convenience  and 
taste,  shall  be  permitted  to  indulge  in  like  pleas- 
ures and  sins.  This  compromise,  so  far  as  they 
are  concerned,  is  a  complete  surrender — a  com- 
promise in  which  the}^  lose  all  and  gain  nothing. 
Such  Church-members,  to  the  honor  of  our  com- 
mon Zion  be  it  said,  are  not  the  true  exj^onents 
of  the  religion  of  the  Bible.  They  are  the  dis- 
cordant elements  in  the  great  brotherhood  of 
Christians — hard  to  control,  and  difficult  to  keep 
in  position.     Like  a  certain  class  of  soldiers,  they 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  157 

are  always  ready  to  desert  and  go  over  to  the 
camp  of  the  enemy.  They  can  never  be  relied 
upon  in  Church- work.  True,  they  are  active — 
are  always  in  motion — but,  like  the  pendulum  of 
a  clock,  they  swing  from  one  extreme  to  the 
another.  There  are  two  forces  in  natural  philos- 
oph}^,  known  as  centrifugal  and  centripetal — one 
tending  to  fly  from  the  center,  the  other  tending 
toward  the  center.  The  same  is  true  of  Church - 
members ;  and,  unfortunately,  there  are  too  many 
in  the  centrifugal  class.  Such  professors,  instead 
of  looking  upon  religion  as  '-daily  bread,"  seem 
to  regard  it  as  a  medicine  — are  willing  to  take  a 
dose  occasionally;  but,  as  they  appear  to  think, 
the  less  they  take  the  better  it  will  be  for 
them. 

A  religious  life,  like  animal  and  vegetable  life, 
requires  an  adaptation  of  place,  culture,  etc.,  in 
order  to  a  full  and  complete  development.  There 
are  places  in  which  it  would  be  most  unreason- 
able to  expect  religion  to  prosper.  We  might  as 
well  look  for  roses  to  bloom  in  the  frigid  zone,  or 
for  pine-apples  to  grow  on  the  summit  of  Mont 
Blanc,  as  to  expect  piety  to  flourish  in  situations 
which  are  wholly  uncongenial  to  it.  Prominent 
among  these  forbidding  places  we  may  mention 
the  hall-room  and  the  theater.  True,  there  are 
places  which  are  still  more  forbidding;  but  pro- 
fessing Christians  are  not  likely  to  go  to  them. 
The  two  mentioned  are  those  most  to  be  dreaded 
of  all  the  places  which  pleasure-loving  members 


158  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

of  the  Church  are  in  the  hahit  of  attending.  This, 
however,  is  not  "the  time  or  place"  for  a  full  dis- 
cussion of  these  corrupt  and  corrupting  "  amuse- 
ments," for  two  reasons:  First,  want  of  space — 
would  swell  this  small  volume  beyond  the  limits 
intended;  second,  a  "hundred  and  one"  little 
books  and  tracts,  which  are  accessible  to  every- 
one, have  covered  the  entire  ground.  Still,  it  is 
not  out  of  place,  even  in  this  work,  to  make  a  few 
statements,  and  to  utter  a  few  words  of  warning, 
not  only  in  reference  to  the  social  dance  and  the 
theater,  but,  likewise,  in  reference  to  the  general 
subject  of  "worldly,  fashionable,  amusement." 

It  is  a  fact  of  history  that  all  of  the  evangelical 
denominations  of  Christendom  have  condemned, 
in  the  strongest  language,  the  ball-room  and  the 
theater.  Surely,  this  unanimous  protest,  coming 
down  through  the  centuries  of  the  Christian  era, 
cannot  be  treated  with  indifference  by  any  one 
who  claims  to  be  a  child  of  God.  Indeed,  this 
fact  alone  ought  to  be  sufficient  to  prevent  the 
most  giddy  and  thoughtless  Church-member  from 
even  desiring  to  attend  them.  No  one  can  doubt 
that  the  ecclesiastical  Councils  that  have  made 
these  "'  deliverances  "  were  actuated  by  the  highest 
and  purest  Christian  motives;  nor  should  the  oft- 
repeated  "declaration  and  testimony"  which  they 
bear  against  the  "dance  and  the  theater"  be  con- 
sidered any  thing  else  than  the  voice  of  God 
speaking  through  the  Churches.  Many  Church- 
members,  it  is  true,  look  upon  these  utterances  as 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  159 

being  "extrajudicial" — utterances  not  authorized 
by  the  Bible;  and  they  attempt  to  weaken  their 
force  by  triumphantly  exclaiming,  "Show  us  a 
single  passage  of  Scripture  which  condemns  the 
dance  and  the  theater,  and  we  will  at  once  aban- 
don both."  They  forget,  however,  that  there  are 
many  things  not  particularly  forbidden  in  Script- 
ure, which  are,  nevertheless,  contrary  to  the 
plain  and  obvious  spirit  of  its  precepts.  We  are 
not  forbidden,  in  so  many  words,  to  set  our 
neighbor's  house  on  fire;  yet  no  one  will  dare 
say  that  the  perpetration  of  such  a  deed  is  not  a 
crime.  We  reason,  in  this  case,  from  the  general 
tenor  of  Scripture,  which  requires  us  to  respect 
the  property  and  happiness  of  our  fellow-men. 
In  the  same  way,  precisely,  must  we  reason  in 
other  cases  in  which  the  Scriptures  are  not  ex- 
plicit. It  was  never  intended  that  the  Bible 
should  particularly  specify  and  name  every  crime 
of  which  men  might  be  guilty.  A  book  which 
would  do  this  would  not  be  calculated  to  answer 
the  purposes  of  a  Divine  revelation,  for  there 
would  be  very  few  who  could  find  time  to  read  its 
contents. 

Of  both  these  "places  of  amusement"  it  ought 
to  be  a  sufficient  condemnation  to  say,  in  addition 
to  the  foregoing,  that  their  tendency  is  to  "  evil, 
and  that  continually ";  that  the  purest  and  most 
exemplary  Christians  do  not  encourage  them; 
tliat  there  is  nothing  in  either  of  them  calculated 
to  refine  the  taste  or  elevate  the  morals;  that  they 


160  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

are  the  arenas  on  which  the  god  of  this  w^orld 
makes  his  most  diabolical  display;  that  they  are 
the  abettors  of  j^ride,  the  instigators  of  jealousy, 
the  sacrificial  altars  of  health,  and  the  avenues  of 
lust.  These  are  strong  expressions — severe  in- 
dictments; but  where  is  the  Christian  who  can 
lay  his  hand  upon  his  heart  and  say  that  they  are 
not  true?  How,  then,  can  he  encourage  them? 
How  can  he  agree  to  such  unequal  companion- 
ship? 

In  reference  to  ''fashionable  amusements"  in 
general,  the  following  may  be  affirmed :  They  are 
expensive;  they  occasion  loss  of  time;  they  pre- 
vent the  acquisition  of  more  solid  accomplish- 
ments; and  they  unfit  the  mind  for  religious  du- 
ties. These,  likewise,  are  strong  charges;  but  no 
candid,  thoughtful  Christian  will  call  them  in 
question.  A  taste  for  them  is  utterly  uncon- 
genial with  true  godliness.  Indeed,  an  undue 
fondness  for  even  laivful  worldly  amusements  is 
detrimental  to  vital  piety.  Religion,  though  a 
happy  thing,  is  a  serious  thing;  and  festivit}^  and 
mirth  do  not  promote  its  growth  and  develop- 
ment. Besides,  for  a  child  of  God  to  seek  his 
chief  enjoyments  from  what  we  are  w^ont  to 
designate  as  "innocent  pleasures,"  is  a  virtual 
denial  of  the  Saviour's  words,  '=  Whosoever 
drinketh  of  the  water  that  I  shall  give  him  shall 
never  thirst."  Now,  thirsting  after  worldly  instead 
of  religious  enjoyments,  indicates  clearly  that  the 
water  from  the  "well  of  salvation"  has  not  en- 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  161 

tered  into  the  soul:  and  it  also  virtually  asks  the 
question,  "  AYho  will  show  us  any  good?" — a  ques- 
tion which  the  Psalmist  teaches  us  is  asked  only 
by  the  worldling — yea,  by  the  infidel!  A  true 
Christian,  then,  cannot  be  too  careful  in  reference 
to  them.  He  cannot  afford  to  partake  of  them 
simply  to  prove  that  his  religion  does  not  debar 
him  from  their  enjoyment.  The  way  to  win  a 
sinner  to  Christ  is  not  to  go  and  partake  of  his 
amusements,  but  to  prove  to  him  that  a  Christian 
is  happier  in  his  pleasures  than  the  sinner  can 
possibly  be  in  the  pleasures  of  the  world — that 
the  Christian  drinks  of  the  "water  of  life,  clear 
as  crystal,  proceeding  from  the  throne  of  God  and 
the  Lamb,"  while  the  sinnfr  is  drinking  from  the 
polluted  streams  which  issue  from  the  earthly 
fountains.  The  gospel  rule  is,  "Come  out  from 
among  them  and  be  ye  separate,  and  touch  not 
the  unclean  thing."  An  utter  refusal,  then,  to 
participate  in  sin  is  the  very  best  w^ay  to  con- 
demn sin.  Asi^ociation  is  assimilation.  Extenu- 
ating contact  with  evil  is  of  itself  corruption. 
The  law  of  the  New  Testament  is  separation  of 
the  precious  from  the  vile;  and  according  to  the 
same  unerring  standard,  purity  begins  with,  and 
is  maintained  by,  non-intercourse  with  that  which 
is  vicious. 

Said  Christ,  "Whosoever  shall  confess  me  be- 
fore men,  him  will  I  confess  before  my  Father 
which  is  in  heaven."     This  declaration  was  in- 
tended for  all  time — for  every  one  who  desires  to 
11 


1G2  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

be  saved.  It  is  especially  adapted  to  those  com- 
promising Christian  prolbssors  who  seem  to  de- 
light to  occupy  debatable  territory — territory 
which  lies  too  near  Satan's  provinces  i'or  s])iritiial 
health  and  growth.  It  is  adapted,  likewise,  to 
those  who  wish  to  be  on  Christ's  side  at  the  final 
judgment,  but  who  are  unwilling  to  den}^  them- 
selves, and  take  up  their  cross,  and  follow  him  in 
this  present  evil  world.  The  confession,  however, 
to  which  the  Saviour  alluded  is  a  very  compre- 
hensive expression — refers  to  the  hearty  to  the  lips, 
and  to  the  life.  Hence,  those  who  refuse  to  thus 
"confess"  Christ  fail  to  comply  with  his  de- 
mands. They  are,  also,  self-convicted  cowards, 
who  enlist  simply  f#i'  the  "bounty."  In  the 
"warfare"  in  which  they  are  expected  to  engage, 
they  never  answer  to  the  roll-call  of  duty.  In- 
stead of  being  "shining  lights,"  they  are  dark 
lanterns;  and  instead  of  benefiting  olhers  by 
their  secret,  clandestine  attempts  to  gain  heaven, 
they  become  "stumbling-blocks."  • 

Conformity  to  the  world,  then,  is  wholly  incon- 
sistent with  the  Christian  profession.  The  spirit 
of  the  world  is  not  the  Spirit  of  Christ.  Its 
maxims  are  not  the  maxims  of  the  Bible;  nor 
are  its  judgments  the  judgments  of  reason  en- 
lightened by  Eevelation.  If,  then,  the  Christian 
adopts  its  maxims,  he  will  go  forth  in  doubt  and 
uncertainty  on  his  earthly  mission,  and  will  die 
without  accom])lishing  it.  In  the  language  of 
another,  "Earth's  cup  is  poisoned;  her  praise,  re- 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  163 

proach ;  her  wisdom  blind  ;  her  guin,  eteriuil  loss ; 
her  hope  a  dream;  her  total  sum — her  all — utter 
vanity."  The  Christian  professor,  therefore,  who 
looks  to  the  world  for  his  pleasures  and  enjoy- 
ments, will  find  it  a  barren  plain — yea,  a  moral 
Sahara  on  which  nothing  exists  that  will  satisfy 
the  hunger  and  thirst  of  an  immortal  spirit. 
The  questions,  then,  which  least  concern  him  are: 
What  does  the  world  teach?  What  does  the  world 
promise?  What  does  the  world  demand?  But 
those  which  do  concern  him  for  time  and  eternity 
are:  What  is  true?  What  is  of  good  report? 
What  will  make  humanity  better  and  happier? 
What  will  make  a  useful  and  blessed  life?  What 
w^ill  WMpe  away  falling  tears  and  heal  broken 
hearts? 

One  of  the  greatest  hinderances  to  the  spread 
of  true  religion  is  the  want  of  a  clearer  line  of 
demarkation  between  those  who  are  in  the  Church 
and  those  who  are  not;  and  we  have  no  right  to 
hoi)e  for  a  rapid  diffusion  of  Christianity  except 
in  proportion  as  its  friends  stand  out  from  the 
world  in  beautiful  distinctness  in  their  practices. 
The  brightness  of  their  example,  too,  must  ex- 
tend to  their  whole  life;  not  in  theory  merel}-,  but 
in  conduct;  not  in  one  thing,  but  in  all  things. 
How  careful  and  circumspect,  therefore,  should 
the  Christian  be !  He  is  not  his  own.  He  is 
blood-bought.  He  is  Christ's  servant,  Christ's 
follower,  Christ's  witness.  Let  him,  then,  obey 
the  heavenly  injunction,  "Whatsoever  things  are 


164  PCXPIT    AND    PEW. 

true,  whatsoever  things  are  honest,  whatsoever 
things  are  just,  whatsoever  things  are  pure, 
whatsoever  things  are  lovely,  whatsoever  things 
are  of  good  report;  if  there  be  any  virtue,  and 
if  there  be  any  praise,  think  on  these  things." 
(Phil.  iv.  8.) 

5.  •  They  must  live  in  peace  and  unity. 

One  of  the  chief  characteristics  of  the  religion 
of  the  Bible  is  that  it  is  a  religion  o^  peace.  Its 
great  Author  is  the  "Prince  of  peace,"  as  the 
Scriptures  declare.  Heathen  nations  have  their 
temples  of  war — temples  on  v/hose  altars  gods  of 
"vengeance  and  blood"  are  placed,  in  order  to 
call  forth  the  most  cruel  and  vindictive  feelings 
of  those  bowing  at  such  shrines.  But  on  tho 
altars  of  the  temples  erected  in  behalf  of  the  re- 
ligion of  the  meek  and  lowly  Saviour,  no  such 
images  are  found.  Instead  of  encouraging  and 
fostering  such  feelings,  Christianity  excludes  from 
her  altars  every  worshiper  who  "has  aught 
against  his  brother."  (See  Matt.  v.  23.)  Indeed, 
no  attentive  reader  of  the  Bible  has  failed  to  ob- 
serve the  great  imjDortance  attached  to  the  neces- 
sity of  kindly  feelings  among  the  brotherhood. 
"Pray  for  tlie  peace  of  Jerusalem;  they  shall 
prosper  that  love  thee.  Peace  be  within  thy 
walls,  and  prosperity  within  thy  j^alaces."  (Ps. 
cxxii.  7.)  "By  this  shall  all  men  know  that  ye 
are  my  disciples,  if  ye  have  love  one  to  another." 
(John  xiii.  35.)     "Be  at  peace  among  j'ourselvcs." 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  165 

(1  Thess.  V.  13.)  "Behold  hoAV  good  and  how 
pleasant  it  is  for  brethren  to  dwell  together  in 
unit3^"     (Ps.  cxxxiii.  1.) 

It  would  be  difficult  indeed  to  account  for  the 
l-apid  spread  of  Christianity  in  the  da^^s  of  the 
apostles,  if  we  leave  out  of  view  the  brotherly 
love,  peace,  and  unity  which  characterized  the 
followers  of  Christ.  These  distinguishing  marks 
were  made  not  only  a  test  of  discipleship,  but,  as 
a  whole,  were  considered  an  elementary  principle, 
without  which  a  man  could  not  obtain  from  saint 
or  sinner,  angel  or  devil,  even  the  name  of 
Christian.  Without  these  essentials  they  did  not 
pretend  to  claim  that  they  were  the  children  of 
God.  And  the  world,  as  it  beheld  this  affection 
and  oneness  of  purpose  permeating  the  hearts  of 
the  early  Christians,  felt  and  confessed  that  a  re- 
ligion which  could  produce  such  wonderful  re- 
sults must  be  from  God.  "By  one  Spirit"  they 
were  "all  baptized  into  one  body,"  and  they  re- 
garded themselves,  and  were  regarded  by  all 
around  them,  as  members  of  one  harmonious  and 
devoted  brotherhood.  Christ  was  the  center  of 
attraction  around  which  they  rallied  and  united ; 
and,  like  the  radii  of  a  circle,  the  nearer  they 
approached  the  center,  the  nearer  they  were  to 
each  other. 

Now,  just  what  those  early  Christians  were 
among  themselves,  so  the  members  of  each  one 
of  the  individual  congregations  in  the  various  de- 
nominations of  Christendom   should  be  toward 


Ids  rULPlT    AND    TEW. 

each  other.  But,  lamentable  to  say,  such  is  not 
always  the  case.  Often,  in  the  same  congregation, 
we  find  ungodly  dissensions — "debates,  envyings, 
wraths,  strifes,  backbitings,  whisperings,  swell- 
ings, tumults."  (2  Cor.  xii.  20.)  And  of  all  dif- 
ficulties Church  difficulties  are  the  worst.  AYhen 
professors  of  religion  fight,  it  is  a  Waterloo,  with 
no  Bliicher  to  come  up  even  at  nightfall  to  decide 
the  contest.  It  is,  too,  a  merciless  warfare;  for, 
as  a  general  thing,  it  is  a  w^r  without  "ex- 
empts"— conscripts  all,  men  and  women,  old  and 
young — forces  every  one  not  only  to  take  sides, 
but  to  engage  in  active  service.  'No  blood  is 
shed,  it  is  true;  but  all  are  badly  scarred.  In 
civil  war,  thousands  upon  thousands  of  the  most 
daring  and  intrepid  soldiers  pass  through  a  score 
of  battles  and  come  out  unscathed;  but  in  a 
Church-war  not  one  who  engages  in  it  escapes 
without  a  wound.  These  w^ounds,  too,  are  ex- 
ceedingly difficult  to  heal;  for  they  are  made  with 
the  most  poisonous  of  all  arrows — a  "tongue  set 
on  fire  of  hell."  (See  James  iii.  6  )  As  a  general 
thing,  too,  a  civil  war  lasts  only  a  short  time;  but 
a  Church- war  lasts  for  years  and  years — yea, 
sometimes  for  a  generation  !  In  a  civil  war,  like- 
wise, much  that  is  good  and  valuable  is  spared, 
and  even  the  severe  losses  can,  in  a  short  time, 
be  repaired;  but  in  a  Church -war  there  is  little 
left  that  is  desirable,  and  the  losses  can  7iever  be 
retrieved.  If  Satan  and  his  minions  ever  "hold 
high  carnival"  in  Tophct,  it  is  w^ hen  just  such  a 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  167 

warfare  as  wo  have  described  is  waged  in  a  con- 
gregation of  professed  Christians.  It  is  a  matter 
of  astonishment  to  see  the  extent  to  which  mem- 
bers of  the  Church  will  sometimes  go  in  these  ec- 
clesiastical combats;  and  the  most  charitable  way 
to  account  for  it  is,  to  say  that  when  the  devil 
docs  get  into  the  heart  of  a  good  man,  knowing 
that  his  stay  is  limited,  he  provokes  and  goads 
him  to  the  utmost  of  his  diabolical  power. 

How  careful,  then,  should  Christians  be  to 
avoid  the  worst  of  all  calamities — a  Church  diffi- 
culty! Who  has  not  seen  the  effects  of  such 
troubles?  How  man}^  old,  dilapidated  church- 
buildings  stand  to-day  as  monuments  of  the  vic- 
tories gained  by  the  Arch-fiend  who  planned  the 
campaign  and  commanded  the  soldiers  who 
fought  under  his  diabolical  flag!  Their  "name  is 
legion"!  AYhat  a  sad  reckoning,  too,  awaits 
those  who  were  the  colonels,  captains,  and  lieu- 
tenants under  this  commander-in-chief  of  discord ! 
The  declaration  is  made  in  sorrow,  but  there  are 
those  who  seem  to  take  pleasure  in  fomenting 
these  difficulties.  Yea,  it  is  a  truth  which  cannot 
be  denied,  that  there  are  men  belonging  to  the 
Church  whose  voices  are  never  heard  in  prayer, 
whose  jDecuniary  gifts  are  exceedingly  meager 
when  compared  with  their  means,  and  who  seem 
utterly  destitute  of  piety,  who  yet,  by  turbulence 
of  speech  and  action,  will  attempt  to  rule  a  whole 
Church.  'No  one,  of  course,  loves  such  characters ; 
but  they  exert  a  wonderful  influence—  can  drive 


168  PULPIT    x\ND    PEW. 

away  ministers,  distract  Churches,  prevent  revivals, 
and  alienate  friends.  Such  men  play  havoc  with 
the  organizations  which  are  so  unfortunate  as  to 
be  compelled  to  own  them  as  members;  for  they 
insinuate  themselves  into  the  very  heart  of  the 
Church,  derange  its  affairs,  hinder  the  workers, 
discourage  the  faithful,  disgust  the  candid,  and 
desolate  every  thing.  Of  course  they  are  not 
Christians,  though  their  names  may  be  recorded 
on  the  Church-roll.  They  are  the  Achans  who 
trouble  the  camp  of  Israel,  the  Judas  Iscariots 
who  would  betray  their  Lord  and  Master — yea, 
the  moral  lepers  whose  touch  is  death,  and  whose 
running  ulcers  nothing  but  the  "balm  in  Gilead  " 
can  heal.  • 

Let,  then,  every  Christian  shun  these  Church 
difficulties  as  he  would  the  deadly  poison  of  the 
Upas  tree.  Solomon  says,  "the  beginning  of 
strife  is  as  when  one  letteth  out  water."  (Prov. 
xvii.  14.)  The  time,  therefore,  to  prevent  the 
outbreak  of  these  difficulties  is  to  take  them  in 
their  incipiency.  The  breach  in  a  dam  which 
might  be  covered  with  a  man's  hand,  if  neglected, 
may  occasion  a  deluge.  Animosities  among  the 
followers  of  Christ  often  spring  from  very  insig- 
nificant things;  and,  unless  they  are  adjusted, 
they  lead  to  the  most  fatal  consequences.  The 
river  forms  a  broader  and  deeper  current  as  it 
runs.  The  stone  that  is  started  from  the  mount- 
ain's summit  by  the  hand  of  a  child,  rushes  down- 
ward by  its  own  momentum;  but  the  strength  of 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  169 

a  giant  cannot  roll  it  back.  Evil,  unlike  wine, 
does  not  improve  b}^  age.  The  mischief  which 
Jeroboam  did  in  Israel  lasted  through  twenty 
generations,  and  it  increased  in  intensity  until, 
like  the  tire  in  the  prairie,  it  died  out  because 
there  was  nothing  left  to  feed  it. 

Next  to  the  prayer  for  the  loving  spirit  of  our 
Saviour,  the  one  thing  needed  by  every  congre- 
gation is  Christian  harmony.  To  insure  this  har- 
mony, this  "unity  of  spirit  in  the  bond  of  peace," 
each  one  must  sometimes  make  sacrifice  of  feel- 
ings and  preferences.  Each  should  remember 
that  he  may  not  always  be  right,  and  that  others 
have  the  same  privileges  which  he  claims  for  him- 
self Let  each  one  agree  to  bear  with  the  weak- 
nesses and  failings  of  others,  for  all  have  infirmi- 
ties. No  one  can  know  the  motives  by  which 
others  are  actuated;  nor  can  he  say  that  he  would 
not  act  as  they  do,  unless  he  was  perfectly  ac- 
quainted with  all  the  circumstances  which  sur- 
round them. 

Brotherly  love  is  a  godlike  affection.  It  is  the 
distinguishing  trait  of  a  Christian,  and  is  the 
foundation  of  all  true  Christian  fellowship.  "Be 
of  one  mind,"  says  Paul.  This  unity  of  spirit  is 
the  bond  that  solidifies  a  congregation  and  makes 
it  strong.  Union  is  strength;  disunion  is  defeat 
and  disaster.  How,  then,  can  a  Church  meet  the 
great  foe,  with  its  armor  all  battered  by  internal 
conflicts? 

In    the     language     of    Dr.    Murphy,    "These 


170  PULPIT    xVND    PEW. 

Church  strifes  destroy  all  true  hai:)pines8  in  the 
minds  of  those  who  are  agitated  by  them; 
they  grieve  awa^"  the  Holy  Spirit,  to  whose  peace- 
ful influences  they  are  so  much  opposed;  they 
lead  to  the  most  lamentable  divisions  and  aliena- 
tions between  those  who  were  once  dear  to  each 
other  in  Christian  fellowship;  they  rend  asunder 
Churches  and  make  incurable  breaches  in  house- 
holds; they  dishonor  religion  and  expose  it  to  the 
contempt  of  the  world;  and  they  inflict  deep 
wounds  upon  Christ,. of  which  he  may  bitterly 
complain  as  having  received  in  the  house  of  his 
friends." 

The  enmity  of  the  world  against  Christianity 
is  so  deep  that  Church-members  cannot  afl'ord  to 
give  any  just  grounds  for  an  increase  of  that 
state  of  feeling.  The  good  name  of  a  Church  is 
its  greatest  power.  It  is  a  sacred  trust  committed 
to  the  membership.  With  such  a  name  a  Church 
is  irresistible;  without  it,  it  is  weak  and  will  be 
desj^ised.  A  Church  shorn  of  it,  like  a  maiden  who 
has  lost  her  virtue,  is  an  object  not  only  of  pitj^,  but 
of  scorn  and  of  contempt.  Then,  be  it  the  ambition 
of  every  Church -member  to  j^roserve  untarnished 
the  good  name  of  the  congregation  with  which  he 
is  identified.  In  other  words,  let  every  congre- 
gation in  Christendom  heed  the  admonition  of 
the  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles:  "Now  I  beseech  you, 
brethren,  by  the  name  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
that  ye  all  speak  the  same  thing,  and  tliat  there 
be  no  divisions  among  you;  but  that  yo  be  per- 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  171 

fectly  joined  together  in  the  same  mind  and  in 
the  same  judgment."     (1  Cor.  i.  10.) 

In  this  connection  it  may  not  be  out  of  place 
to  add,  parenthetically,  a  word  of  caution  and  ad- 
monition to  the  ministry.  Under  no  circum- 
stances should  the  preacher  permit  himself  to  be 
connected  with  these  Church  strifes  as  a  partisan. 
There  is  a  sj^ecial  scriptural  injunction  which 
forbids  such  a  thing:  "The  servant  of  the  Lord 
must  not  strive;  but  be  gentle  unto  all  men,  apt 
to  teach,  patient."  (2  Tim.  ii.  24.)  "Brethren,  if 
a  man  be  overtaken  in  a  fault,  je  which  are 
spiritual,  restore  such  an  one  in  the  spirit  of 
ineekness;  considering  thyself,  lest  thou  be  also 
tempted.  Bear  ye  one  another's  burdens,  and  so 
fulfill  thelawofChrist."(Eph.vi.l,2.)  The  minister, 
therefore,  who  would  lend  his  name  and  influence 
for  the  purpose  of  engendering  and  fostering 
such  strifes  is  basely  unworthy  of  his  profession, 
and  deserves  the  righteous  indignation  of  all  good 
men. 

On  this  very  j)oint  John  Wesley  speaks  "the 
words  of  truth  and  soberness."  Says  he,  "O 
beware,  I  will  not  say  of  forming,  but  of  counte- 
nancing or  abetting,  any  parties  in  a  Christian 
Society.  Meddle  not  with  them  that  are  given  to 
dispute — with  them  that  love  contention.  Follow 
peace  with  all  men,  without  which  you  cannot 
effectually  follow  holiness.  Be  not  content  not  to 
stir  up  strife,  but  do  every  thing  possible  to  pre- 
vent or  quench  the  very  first  part  of  it.     It  is  far 


172  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

easier  to  prevent  the  flame  from   breaking   out 
than  to  quench  it  afterward." 

6.  They  must  read  the  literature  of  the  Church — 
must  he  ivell-informed  as  to  doctrines,  polity,  etc. 

It  is  the  imperative  duty  of  every  Christian  to 
unite  with  some  branch  of  the  Church  of  Christ. 
But  as  to  which  one  of  the  "many  members"  of 
"one  body"  a  person  should  join,  it  is  not  the 
province  of  this  little  book  to  attempt  to  decide. 
Suffice  it  to  say,  uniting  with  a  Church  is  a  matter 
of  serious  moment,  and  each  one  should  remember 
that  his  or  her  usefulness  may  be,  yea,  ivill  be, 
greatly  enhanced  or  curtailed  by  this  step;  for 
much  depends  uj^on  a  proper  choice  in  this  matter, 
inasmuch  as  no  one  can  be  happy  or  efficient  in  a 
Church  whose  doctrines  and  polity  do  not  accord 
with  his  views  of  Bible-teaching.  But  having, 
by  proper  investigation,  settled  the  question  as  to 
which  one  of  these  organizations  it  is  his  or  her 
duty  to  join,  it  then  becomes  a  matter  of  the 
highest  Christian  obligation  to  be  efficient  in  that 
Church.  It  is  next  to  impossible,  however,  for 
any  one  to  attain  to  a  high  degree  of  usefulness 
and  efficiency  without  a  knowledge  of  the  doc- 
trines and  polity  of  the  organization  to  which  be 
belongs.  There  is  but  one  way  to  gain  this 
information  accurately,  and  that  is  by  reading 
the  religious  literature  of  that  Church.  A  bitter 
sectarianism  is  to  be  deprecated;  but  an  intelli- 
gent   denomi nationalism   is   to   be    commended. 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  173 

Fixed  principles  are  as  essential  to  an  efficient 
Church-membership  as  the}'  are  to  a  correct  civil 
citizenship.  The  soldier  who  Avoiild  as  soon  fight 
under  one  flag  as  another  is  not  worth  his  rations. 
The  citizen  who  considers  any  other  government 
as  good  as  his  own,  is  of  but  little  value  to  any. 
The  physician  who  believes  that  all  ^^pathies''  are 
equall}^  deserving,  and  is  ready  to  pj-actice  either 
according  to  the  wishes  of  his  patients,  might 
just  as  well  close  his  office.  And  the  Church- 
member  who  has  as  much  love  and  attachment 
for  any  other  denomination  a*  for  his  own  is  un- 
worthy the  denomination  which  has  the  misfor- 
tune to  claim  him. 

A  religious  literature  is  of  immense  service  to 
every  Christian,  whether  old  or  young.  True, 
the  Bible  is  the  Book  of  books,  and  should,  under 
no  circumstances,  be  supplanted.  But  we  must 
not  imitate  the  Caliph  Omar,  who  committed  the 
great  library  of  Alexandria  to  the  flames,  under 
the  idea  that  if  the  books  contained  only  what 
was  approved  by  the  Koran,  they  were  useless; 
if  what  was  contrary  to  it,  they  were  pernicious. 
JN'ow,  if  the  literature  of  a  denomination  contains 
no  other  religious  truth  than  that  found  in  the 
Bible,  it  is,  nevertheless,  of  inestimable  value,  for 
it  explains  and  enforces  that  which  is  in  the 
Bible,  according  to  the  honest  convictions  of  the 
Church  which  prepares  that  literature.  It  is  to 
the  Scriptures  what  the  gas  ]Dipes  of  a  city  are  to 
the   great  reservoir — affords  the  media  through 


174  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

which  ligbt  is  conveyed  to  tliousauds  of  homes 
which  would  otherwise  be  comparatively  dark 
and  cheerless. 

A  great  statesman  once  said,  "If  you  will  per- 
mit me  to  write  the  songs  of  a  nation,  I  care  not 
who  may  make  its  laws."     With  equal  truth  a 
bold  and  vigorous  author  may  say,  "  If  you  will 
permit  me  to  Avrite  the  religious  literature  of  a 
Church,  I  care  not  who  may  formulate  its  Disci- 
plines and  Confessions  of  Faith."     The  influence 
of  such  a  literature  upon  the  membership  is  truly 
wonderful.     It  is  ..to   the   mind   and   heart  what 
food  is  to  the  body — forming,  shaping,  developing, 
the  mental  and  moral  man  just  as  temporal  food 
does  the  physical  man.     Indeed,  no  one  wdio  has 
properly  reflected  upon  the  subject,  will  call  in 
question  the  statement  that  the  religious  litera- 
ture of  a  denomination  does  more  to  mold  and 
unify  the  opinions  of  the  membership  than  do  its 
pulpits.     A  truth  printed  is  more  eftective  than  a 
truth  spoken,  for  the  simple  reason  that  so  many 
more  can  enjoy  it.     The  latter  is  gold  dust  which, 
though   genuine,  cannot  circulate   over  a   large 
area;  the  former  is  that  same  dust  coined,  and  has 
"no   pent-up    Utica,"  but  "passes"  everywhere. 
Such  literature,  too,  not  only  greatly  aids  in  de- 
veloping Church-members   into  the  "stature  of 
perfect  men  and  women  in  Christ  Jesus,"  but  it 
enables  them  to  exert  a  much  more  powerful  in- 
fluence upon  the  world — prepares  them  to  defend 
the  cause  of  Christ.     Infidels  appreciate  the  idea 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  175 

suggested;  for  by  diligently  reading  their  own 
publications,  they  familiarize  themselves  Avith  the 
weaj^ons  which  they  are  expected  to  employ,  and 
are  ever  ready  to  assault  or  defend.  Christians 
need  a  similar  preparation  from  their  own  arsenal 
of  spiritual  truth;  and  the  Church,  in  the  provi- 
dence of  God,  has  formulated  the  arguments 
needed  to  meet  those  who  vex  our  common  Zion. 
Armed  and  equipped  with  these  weapons,  "one 
can  chase  a  thousand,  and  two  can  put  ten  thou- 
sand to  flight."  It  is  likewise  true,  that  they  are 
the  most  efficient  in  their  own  particular  denomi- 
nation who  are  the  best-informed  in  relation  to 
their  distinctive  theological  tenets.  For,  as  has 
been  intimated,  no  one  should  become  a  member 
of  a  Church  without  resolving  to  do  all  in  his 
power  to  advance  the  interests  of  that  denomina- 
tion. To  accomplish  this  work  he  must  not  only 
know  what  that  Church  believes,  but  v/hat  it  pro- 
poses to  do.  Political  parties  acknowledge  a  similar 
necessity  for  their  respective  adherents ;  for  they, 
by  the  circulation  of  papers,  speeches,  etc.,  at- 
tempt to  disseminate  the  information  that  will 
make  each  man  a  more  earnest  supporter.  And 
although  these  eiforts  are  often  carried  to  excess, 
yet  there  is  good  accomplished  by  them — each 
jjarty  knows  more  about  its  friends,  more  about 
its  opponents,  more  about  politics  in  general — in 
a  word,  the  peoj^le  are  instructed,  and  they  are 
more  capable  of  intelligent  and  efficient  action. 
Now,  vjhat  these  parties  have  done  for  their  fol- 


176  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

lowers  in  politics,  the  different  denominations  of 
Christendom  have  done  for  their  adherents  in  re- 
ligious faith.  And  although  this  denominational 
literature,  like  the  j^olitieal,  is  obnoxious  to  criti- 
cism, yet  no  one  can  doubt  that  it  has  done  great 
good.  While  a  part  of  this  literature  may  be — 
yea,  ought  to  be — so  tinged  with  denominational- 
ism  as  to  prevent  its  adaptation  to  any  except  to 
the  membership  of  that  particular  Church,  3^et 
the  greater  part  is  so  Catholic  >n  its  spirit  and 
utterances  that  its  whole  tendency  is  to  religious 
rather  than  to  denominational  advancement. 
Hence,  while  such  literature  strengthens  one's 
attachment  for  his  own  ecclesiastical  household, 
it  at  the  same  time  urges  him  onward  and  upward 
in  the  divine  life. 

Another  mateiial  advantage  in  such  a  literature 
is,  it  displaces  that  which  is  most  pernicious  in 
its  tendency.  Solomon  says,  "Of  the  making  of 
books  there  is  no  end";  and,  unfortunately  for  the 
human  race,  there  are  bad  books  as  well  as  good 
ones — books  which  poison  the  mind  and  corrupt 
the  heart — books  which  drag  the  soul  down  to 
hell  instead  of  lifting  it  up  to  heaven.  The 
writers  of  them  are  tlie  most  debased  of  mortals; 
and  it  would  be  just  as  impossible  to  read  their 
books  without  being  contaminated  as  it  would  be 
to  associate  with  them  without  being  defiled.  To 
the  youth  these  productions  are  especially  dan- 
gerous; and  when  a  taste  for  them  has  been  cul- 
tivated, it  is  exceedingly  difficult,  if  not  impossi- 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  177 

ble,  to  displace  them  with  a  pure  and  innocent 
literature.  Christian  parents,  therefore,  cannot 
afford  to  withhold  from  their  children  such  read- 
ing-matter as  will  tend  to  improve  the  mind,  re- 
fine the  taste,  and  purify  the  heart;  and  the 
Giiurch  is  the  principal  source  to  which  they  must 
look  for  this  supplj^  The  best  thoughts  of  our 
greatest  men  are  stored  away  in  books.  God, 
himself,  whose  resources  are  infinite,  saw  proper 
to  communicate  his  will  to  man  through  a  book. 

In  addition  to  the  negative  good  of  which  we 
have  just  spoken,  there  is  beyond  doubt  a  positive 
good  wrought  by  a  religious  literature.  JSTo  one 
can  read  a  good  book,  tract,  or  j^aper  without 
being  benefited — just  as  impossible  to  do  so  as  it 
is  to  drink  pure  water  and  eat  wholesome  food 
without  feeling  their  effects  upon  the  physical 
system.  Hundreds  of  instances  might  be  given 
to  verify  this  statement,  but  such  details  would 
be  out  of  place  in  this  little  book.  We  cannot, 
however,  forbear  giving  the  following,  which  is 
obtained  from  an  authentic  source: 

Eichard  Baxter  was  led  to  Christ  through  the 
instrumentality  of  a  tract  brought  to  his  father's 
door  in  a  peddler's  pack.  One  of  his  works,  "  The 
Saints'  Rest,"  was  instrumental  in  the  conversion 
of  Philip  Doddridge.  "The  Else  and  Progress  of 
Eeligion  in  the  Soul,"  written  by  Doddridge,  was 
blessed  to  the  salvation  of  AYilliam  Wilberforce. 
"The  Practical  Yiew,"  by  the  latter,  led  Thomas' 
Chalmers  and  Legh  Eichmond  to  the  Saviour. 
12 


178  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

Chalmers  became  one  of  the  brightest  stars  that 
ever  adorned  the  ministry;  and  Eichmond  wrote 
"The  Dairyman's  Daughter/'  a  tract  which  has 
been  translated  into  more  than  fifty  different  lan- 
guages, and,  no  doubt,  has  led  thousands  upon 
thousands  to  the  Cross. 

The  foregoing  paragraph  of  itself  is  sufficient 

to  prompt  every  Christian  not  only  to  read  but 

to  circulate  his  Church-literature.     But  when  the 

facts  just  related  are  taken  in    connection  with 

the  arguments  previously  presented,  and  when  to 

all  these  are  added  the  personal  experiences  and 

observations  of  every  one  who  reads  these  pages, 

the  reasons  therefor  are  overwhelming.     Parents, 

then,  who  love  their  children,  and   desire  their 

salvation,  cannot  afford  to  be  indifferent  upon  this 

momentous  subject.     A  bad  book,  newspaper,  or 

magazine  is  as  dangerous  to  children  as  vicious 

associates — yea,  they  are  more  so;    for  personal 

influence  is  limited  by  time  and  place,  while  a 

vile  book  goes  ever^^where,  and  never  dies.     The 

reader  may  return  to  it  again  and  again ;  it  does 

its  work  in  secret,  and  where  the  arm  of  the  law 

cannot   strike  it  down.     Such  publications,  like 

spirituous  liquors,  afford  neither  nourishment  nor 

medicine — they  are  poison.     Both  intoxicate — one 

the  mind;  the  other  the  body.     The   desire   for 

each   increases,  too,  b}^  being  fed,  and   is  never 

satisfied.     Never,  perhaps,  in  the  world's  history 

were  the  dangers  to  youth,  from  this  cause,  so 

great  as  at  this  time;  and  parents  should  be  on 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  179 

their  guard  against  one  of  the  worst  enemies 
that  can  meet  their  children.  Never  should  they 
permit  an  impure  j)ublication  to  be  brought  into 
their  homes,  and  placed  before  their  offspring. 
Hungry  lambs  will  eat  poison;  but  if  well  fed  on 
good  food,  they  let  poison  alone. 

In  reference  to  the  importance  of  the  religious 
newspaper,  we  feel  that  it  would  be  difficult  to 
speak  with  too  much  vehemence.  All  denomina- 
tions have  them;  and  they  are  the  channels 
through  which  each  one  of  these  denominations 
speaks  to  its  own  membership,  to  each  other,  and 
to  the  world.  The  Church-member,  therefore,  who 
refuses  to  avail  himself  of  the  advantages  of  a 
newspaper  j^ublished  in  the  interests  of  his  own 
ecclesiastical  household,  is,  to  use  the  mildest  ex- 
pression, not  to  be  envied  for  his  sound  judgment 
or  religious  devotion,  Such  a  member  says  by 
his  action  that  he  prefers  darkness  to  light — pre- 
fers that  himself  and  his  family  shall  be  in  utter 
ignorance  as  to  what  his  Church  is  doing.  And 
(we  again  speak  parenthetically)  the  minister  of 
the  gospel  who  will  not  use  his  influence  to  have 
his  labors  supplemented  by  such  an  auxiliary  as 
a  good  religious  newspaper  affords,  is  either  too 
ignorant  to  preach,  too  indolent  to  do  good,  or  too 
self-conceited  to  ask  for  assistance  from  man  or  God! 

Want  of  pecuniary  ability,  we  know,  is  often 
urged  as  a  reason  why  many  do  not  take  a  re- 
ligious newspaj^er;  but  such  an  excuse  is  utterly 
untrue  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten.     There  are  very 


180  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

few,  if  any^  Cbristian  families  in  this  broad  land 
who  arc  too  poor  to  take  sueh  a  paper.  Less  than 
one  cent  a  day,  set  apart  for  that  jDurpose,  will  fur- 
nish a  family  with  that  "  royal  visitor,"  who  will 
come  into  the  household  and  preach  its  timely 
sermons — sermons  prepared  by  many  of  the  most 
able  and  gifted  pens  in  the  Church — sermons 
which  are  indispensable  to  Christian  efficiency — 
sermons  which  instruct  and  edify — sermons  which 
may  not  only  deter  the  young  from  a  life  of 
shame,  but  lead  them  to  the  Cross  of  Christ.  In- 
stead, then,  of  there  being  many  Christian  families 
in  any  denomination  that  are  too  poor  to  take  a 
religious  newspaper,  there  hyq  few  that  are  not  too 
poor  to  be  without  it.  Those  who  do  take  such  a 
paper  are  not  only  the  best-informed  in  regard  to 
what  the  denomination  to  which  they  belong  is 
doing,  but  they  are  the  ones  who  sustain  and 
foster  the  benevolent  work  of  the  Church — sup- 
port the  ministry'',  endow  institutions  of  learning, 
and  sustain  the  missionary  cause.  Not  a  denomi- 
nation in  Christendom,  perhaps,  has  over  suc- 
ceeded in  inducing  o/ie-/m^/ of  its  Christian  house- 
holds to  patronize  their  own  religious  papers;  yet 
we  venture  the  assertion  that  those  who  do  take 
these  papers  give  nine-tenths  of  all  the  money  that 
is  contributed  in  the  respective  denominations  to 
which  they  belong.  Hence,  then,  such  a  publica- 
tion is  indispensable  to  intelligent  Christian  use- 
fulness; and  for  a  member  of  the  Church  to  re- 
fuse to  take  such  a  paper,  when  he  is  pecuniarily 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  181 

able  to  do  so  (and  there  are  very  few  w^ho  are  not) 
Tirtually  declares  that  he  chooses  to  know  nothing 
of  the  plans  and  operations  of  his  Church,  and 
chooses  to  be  a  cipher  in  the  organization  to  which 
he  belongs. 

7.  They  must  scrupulously  guard  the  good  name 
and  reputation  of  their  minister. 

The  minister  of  the  gospel  is  the  vice-gerent  of 
Christ — is  his  ambassador  through  whom  he 
speaks  to  his  Church.  He  is,  likewise,  the  me- 
dium through  which  the  Church  sj^eaks  to  the 
world.  If  he  occupied  the  position  of  a  jDrivate 
Christian  it  would  be  demanding  too  much  to  re- 
quire special  duties  toward  him.  But  he  is  not 
simply  a  private  Christian ;  for,  in  the  perform- 
ance of  his  official  duties,  the  interests  of  the 
Church  to  which  he  ministers  are  involved  not 
only  in  the  aggregate  but  in  the  individuality  of  its 
membership.  In  other  words,  though  he  serves 
an  organization,  yet  the  si)iritual  welfare  of  every 
member  thereof  is  connected  with  his  ministry. 
This  being  true,  we  see  the  necessity,  yea,  the 
absolute  necessity,  of  guarding,  with  the  utmost 
vigilance,  the  reputation  of  him  who  occupies  so 
important  a  position.  The  good  name  of  a  min- 
ister is  one  of  the  essential  elements  to  his  useful- 
ness. With  it  he  is  as  strong  as  a  giant;  with- 
out it  he  is  as  weak  as  an  infant.  With  it  he  is  a 
David  with  his  sling;  without  it  he  is  a  Samson 
with   his  locks    shorn. 


182  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

As  t'.ie  minister  of  the  gospel  proclaims  him- 
self the  opponent  of  all  sin  and  the  advocate  of 
all  morality,  he  lays  himself  liable  not  only  to 
the  assaults  of  Satan,  but  to  the  attacks  of  un- 
godly men.  Being,  by  virtue  of  his  office,  a  rec- 
ognized leader  in  the  grand  army  of  Christ,  he 
becomes  a  prominent  target  at  which  the  sharp- 
shooters of  Satan's  cohorts  discharge  their  deadly 
weapons.  No  purity  of  character  exempts  the 
minister  from  these  envenomed  missiles.  Indeed, 
the  more  elevated  he  is  in  this  respect  the  more 
violent  and  persistent  are  the  assaults  which  are 
made  upon  him.  The  enemies  of  Christianity 
now,  as  was  the  case  eighteen  centuries  ago,  pre- 
fer Barabbas  to  Christ.  Nothing  delights  them 
so  much  as  to  be  able  to  wound  the  officer  who 
leads  the  charge  made  upon  their  fortifications. 
Nor  will  they  scruple  to  descend  to  the  vilest 
depths  of  infamy,  provided  there  is  a  bare  possi- 
bility of  accomplishing  their  diabolical  purposes. 
It  is.,  therefore,  the  imperative  duty  of  the  mem- 
bersliip  to  guard  with  constant  vigilance  the 
reputation  of  their  minister.  His  good  name,  to 
a  great  extent,  is  in  their  keeping;  and  they 
would  be  recreant  to  the  sacred  trust  committed 
to  them,  as  well  as  to  their  own  interests,  if  they 
were  to  refuse  to  defend,  "at  all  hazards  and  to 
the  last  extremity,"  the  reputation  of  their 
preacher  when  unjustly  assailed  by  the  vile 
emissaries  of  the  devil. 

But,  lamentable  to  say,  he  is  liable  to  attacks 


PULriT    AND    PEW.  183 

not  only  from  the  inveterate  foes  of  the  cause 
which  he  serves,  but,  likewise,  from  those  of  his 
own  Christian  household.  It  is  true,  the  weapons 
employed 'by  professed  infidels  differ  in  kind  from 
those  used  by  these  "  household-enemies."  Those 
of  the  former  are  aimed  at  moral  character;  those 
of  the  latter  strike  at  ministerial  usefulness.  But 
it  is  likewise  true  that  they  differ  in  results — the 
latter  being  much  more  destructive.  Indeed,  the 
saying  has  grown  into  an  aphorism  that  ''a  man's 
worst  enemies  may  be  those  of  his  own  house- 
hold." This  is  especiall}"  true  in  regard  to  the 
sacred  ministry.  The  blessed  Saviour  so  found 
it;  so  did  the  apostles;  and  we  assert  a  fact  which 
no  thoughtful  observer  will  controvert,  when  we 
say  that  the  same  is  true  of  the  gospel  ministry 
of  this  age.  AYe  have  neither  the  time  nor  space 
to  give  in  detail  the  different  ways  by  which  a 
minister's  good  name  and  usefulness  may  be  in- 
jured by  his  membership.  But  as  the  chief 
method  is  by  that  of  the  tongue — improper  con- 
versation, unkind  criticism,  fault-finding — this 
fact  is  deemed  a  sufficient  apology  for  pasvsing  by 
the  less,  and  devoting  a  few  pages  to  the  greater. 
The  golden  rule — "  Do  unto  others  as  ye  would 
have  them  do  unto  you" — has  a  dej^th  of  mean- 
ing not  usually  thought  of  by  many  who  flip- 
pantly repeat  it;  for  it  embraces  words  as  well  as 
actions.  That  is,  we  are  not  only  to  do  unto 
others  as  we  would  that  they  should  do  unto  us, 
but  wo  are  to  speak  of  others  as  we  would  have 


184  ruLriT  anu  vew. 

them  speak  of  lis.  Bat  notwithstanding  the 
Saviour  himself  is  the  author  of  this  rule  of 
Christian  ethics,  yet  many  Church-members  have 
either  overlooked  it,  or  else  refuse  to  acknowledge 
its  binding  force.  They  not  only  talk  too  much, 
but  they  say  improper  things.  The  order  to 
which  they  belong  is  not  a  new  one,  for  Paul  met 
it,  face  to  face,  in  the  Church  at  Eome;  and  he 
gave  to  the  members  of  it  the  very  appropriate 
name,  ^' whisper'ers.'"  He,  however,  not  only  de- 
nounced the  order,  and  placarded  it  in  that  infa- 
mous companionship  to  which  it  belongs — "env}^ 
murder,  deceit,  malignity  ";  but  he  placed  the  mem- 
bers thereof  in  the  proper  category — "backbiters, 
haters  of  God,  boasters,  inventors  of  evil  things, 
covenant  breakers,  implacable,  unmerciful." 
Thanks  to  inspiration  and  to  Paul  for  that  w^ord, 
'•whisperer";  for  it  is  not  only  appropriate,  but 
significant — describes  the  characters  fully  whom 
we  are  condemning;  for  the  most  of  their  mis- 
chievous work  is  done  by  ^'ichispering.''  They  do 
not  generally  talk  loud;  nor  do  they  often  make 
a  direct  charge.  They  abound  in  winks,  hints, 
and  innuendoes;  and  "whisper"  solemn  expressions 
as  to  what  they  "fear  may  be  true."  Many  of 
this  class  are  very  pious  in  look  and  appearance; 
yet  there  is  a  lurking  vulture  in  their  hearts,  and 
they  scent  tales  of  slander  from  afar.  In  his 
Epistle  to  Timothy,  Paul  further  describes  them 
as  wandering  from  house  to  house — "idlers,  tattlers, 
busybodies  " — that  is  it.    They  are  Satan's  colport- 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  185 

eiirs,  retailing  slander  from  place  to  place,  and 
preaching  a  message  of  defamation  instead  of 
salvation — a  gospel  of  suspicion  and  ill-will, 
instead  of  one  of  trust  and  brotherly  charity. 
The  only  redeeming  feature  in  reference  to  them 
is  that  their  number  is  comparatively  small;  but 
one  such  is  too  many. 

In  addition  to  the  class  just  described  there  is 
another  which,  though  not  so  mischievously 
wicked,  is  nevertheless  very  injurious  to  the  cause 
of  Christ.  We  allude  to  a  class  variously  desig- 
nated as  "critics,"  "fault-finders,"  "grumblers," 
etc.  They  are  a  great  annoyance  to  the  organiza- 
tion of  which  they  are  a  part,  but  especially  so  to 
the  minister.  iSTothing  scarcely  that  he  does 
l^leases  them.  From  the  time  he  begins  his  labors 
with  the  congregation  to  which  they  belong,  un- 
til those  labors  terminate,  they  criticise  almost 
every  thing  he  does— dress,  gesture,  elocution,  ser- 
mons, manners,  pastoral  visits,  etc.,  etc. — all,  all 
come  in  for  their  full  share.  Nor  do  they  seem 
to  have  any  discretion  as  to  time  or  place  in 
making  these  criticisms — at  their  own  firesides, 
before  their  own  chtldren,  in  the  j)i'6sence  of 
members  of  other  Christian  communions,  before 
the  ungodly — anywhere  and  everywhere!  In  the 
custody  of  such  members  it  is  scarcely  necessary 
to  say,  that  the  good  name  of  a  minister  is  not 
safe.  Their  unkind  words,  like  the  scorching 
winds  of  the  desert,  go  forth  upon  their  mission, 
and   blast   the   field  which    he   had    sowed  with 


186  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

"weeping,"  and  which  he  hud  hoped  to  reap  w^th 
"rejoicing."  Of  course,  every  minister  has  his 
imperfections;  and  in  the  conduct  of  the  best 
there  will  be  occasional  faults  which  may  demand 
criticism.  But,  for  the  sake  of  the  good  name  of 
the  minister,  for  the  sake  of  the  salvation  of  sin- 
ners, for  the  sake  of  our  holy  religion,  and  for  the 
sake  of  the  proprieties  and  decencies  of  Christian 
l')oliteness,  let  these  defects  be  pointed  out  to  the 
preacher  and  to  him  alone,  and  let  it  be  done,  too, 
in  a  kind  and  fraternal  spirit.  The  method,  how- 
ever, which  these  "fault-finders"  invariably  adopt 
is  the  despicable  one  of  proclaiming  these  faults 
to  all  others  except  to  the  minister.  To  such 
members,  nothing  is  more  appropriate  than  the 
fable  of  "The  Bell  Clapper."  The  bell  in  which 
it  hung  was  cracked,  and  the  clapper  was  always 
comj^laining  of  its  sad  fate  for  being  connected 
"with  such  a  bell.  A  great  many  good  people 
l^itied  the  clapper,  and  condoled  with  its  sad  lot. 
At  length  the  spirit  of  Diogenes,  thxj  old  cynic, 
who  could  not  endure  shams  of  any  kind,  came 
along.  He  heard  of  the  clapper's  complaint,  and 
said :  "  Before  you  make  any  more  fuss  about  the 
bell,  remember  two  things  :  First,  you  cracked  it; 
and  second,  no  one  would  know  that  it  was 
cracked  if  you  did  not  tell  it." 

Now,  if  a  few  members  of  a  Church  were  to 
try,  every  Sabbath,  by  some  kind  of  noise,  to 
drown  out  the  minister's  voice,  or,  by  some 
counter  attraction  or  interruption,   to  turn  the 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  187 

thoughts  of  the  people  a^Yny  from  the  solemn  words 
which  he  utters,  we  would  not  only  deprive  them 
of  membership,  but  we  would  hand  them  over  to 
the  civil  authorities  for  punishment.  But  is  not 
this  a  similar  case?  Do  not  those  "fault-finders," 
who  spend  their  lives  in  saying  disparaging  things 
of  their  minister,  virtually  drown  out  his  voice 
and  rob  his  words  of  much  of  their  solemn  force, 
so  far  as  their  influeuce  extends?  It  is  strange, 
we  admit,  that  they  can  get  their  consent  to  en- 
gage in  a  practice  so  disreputable  to  themselves 
and  so  dishonoring  to  religion.  But,  lamentable 
to  say,  they  do  it.  It  would  be  better,  infinitely 
better,  to  pursue  a  diametrically  opposite  course — 
better  err  on  the  side  of  charity.  The  truth  is, 
they  cannot  afford  to  bolt  the  doors  of  their  own 
hearts,  and  those  of  others,  so  far  as  they  have 
influence,  against  the  kindly  ofiices  of  one  who  is 
striving  to  do  good  to  them,  to  their  children,  and 
to  their  neighbors. 

The  character  of  a  gospel  minister  is  his  most 
sacred  treasure;  and  the  membei'ship  that  would 
have  him  a  blessing  to  themselves  and  to  the 
world  must  guard  his  good  name  as  a  mother 
does  the  virtue  of  her  daughter.  Instead,  then, 
of  injuring  his  usefulness  by  saying  improper 
things,  how  much  better  would  it  be  to  increase 
his  usefulness  by  saying  kind  and  encouraging 
things!  It  is  a  fact  which  no  thoughtful  man 
will  controvert,  that  a  minister's  success  depends 
almost  as  much  upon  what  is  said  of  him  as  on 


188  PULriT    AND    TEW. 

what  he  does.  His  influence  in  a  communit}'  may 
be  "talked"  into  twice  its  power  for  good,  or  it 
may  be  "  talked  "  into  a  mere  cipher.  No  difference 
how  earnestly  he  may  labor,  it  is  possible,  by  in- 
discreet remarks,  to  make  his  ministerial  life  al- 
most a  failure.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  possible, 
by  words  "fitly  spoken,"  to  enable  him,  like  Paul, 
to  "magnify  his  office." 

Then,  let  these  Church  "grumblers"  cease  their 
unholy  work.  They  themselves  have  a  thousand 
faults  and  imperfections  which  their  minister  and 
others  have  overlooked  or  excused.  Indeed,  all 
have  them,  and  all  need  the  kind  offices  of  tliat 
broad  Christian  charity  which  is  so  highly  com- 
mended in  the  Scriptures.  Besides,  there  are 
some  things  which  cannot  be  corrected,  and  it  is 
not  best  to  even  speak  of  them.  Paul  told  the 
Hebrews  of  Noah's  faith;  but  he  never  said  one 
word  about  his  planting  a  vineyard  and  of  his 
becoming  "drunken"  on  the  wine  which  was  the 
product  of  that  vineyard.  He  also  spoke  of 
Eahab's  faith;  .but  he  did  not  speak  of  the 
terrible  falsehood  which  she  told.  The  truth  is, 
the  Church,  like  the  family,  may  have  some 
secrets  which  it  were  best  not  to  publish  abroad. 
Tlic  world  will  not  be  benefited  by  them. 

We  do  not  wish  to  be  misunderstood.  We  have 
neither  cloak  nor  apology  for  those  in  the  minis- 
try who  are  basely  unworth}'-  of  their  profession, 
for  the}^  should  be  shaken  from  the  Church  as 
Paul  did  the  vijDer  from  his  arm;    but  we  would 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  189 

have  a  true  and  worthy  mhiister  protected  in  his 
reputation  from  unrighteous  assaults,  whether 
made  by  the  ungodly  or  by  professing  Christians. 
While  we  believe  that  a  Judas  should  be  sent  to 
"his  own  place,"  we  see  no  reason  why  the  malig- 
nant persecutors  of  God's  faithful  ministers 
should  not  share  the  same  fate.  Whose  business 
is  it,  except  the  preacher's,  as  to  what  store  he 
trades  at,  which  physician  he  emj^loys,  or  what 
woman  he  marries?  Surely  no  one  can  deny 
that  the  minister  should  be  protected  from  those 
envious,  jealous,  tattling  members  who  are  ever 
pursuing  him  as  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees  did 
the  blessed  Saviour.  Indeed,  the  membership  can- 
not afford  to  thus  mistreat  their  minister.  In  the 
providence  of  God  he  is  their  leader,  their  chief 
earthl}-^  reliance  for  building  them  up — for  devel- 
oping the  Christian  graces  in  their  own  lives,  and 
for  leading  their  children  and  others  to  Christ. 
They,  tlierefore,  for  their  own  interests,  for  those 
of  their  children,  and  for  those  of  the  outside  world, 
cannot,  we  repeat,  afford  to  have  their  minister 
denuded  of  his  ministerial  power  and  influence. 

8.  They  must  he  liberal  in  their  contributions  to 
the  cause  of  religion. 

No  one  can  thoughtfully  read  the  Bible,  nor 
the  history  of  the  Church  in  past  ages,  without 
coming  to  the  conclusion  that  there  is  a  most  in- 
timate relationship  between  money  and  religion. 
They  have  ever  been,  and,  in  the  Divine  economy, 


190  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

they  ever  will  be,  mutual  helpers.  True,  religion  is 
not  in  itself  materialistic;  but  the  most  wonder- 
ful materialistic  results  have  always  followed  in 
its  wake.  In  other  words,  religion  opens  out  the 
avenues  of  wealth;  and  wealth,  in  its  turn,  gives 
facilities  for  the  progress  of  religion.  Wherever 
the  gospel  exists,  like  the  great  Archimedian 
lever,  it  "moves  the  world" — not  only  inspires 
the  soul  with  desires  for  a  higher  and  better  state, 
but  awakens  the  mightiest  energies  for  every  en- 
nobling human  enterjirise.  Money,  then,  is  one 
of  the  great  factors,  both  in  the  evangelization 
and  civilization  of  the  human  race.  Nor  would 
it,  perhaps,  be  stating  the  case  too  strongly  to  say 
that,  with  the  present  economy,  it  is  indispensable 
to  both.  God  has  created  wealth,  not  because  he 
himself  needed  it,  but  because  of  the  great  bene- 
fits which  it  may  subserve.  The  man,  therefore, 
who  adds  no  material  value  to  society  is  o,  pauper — 
a  pauper  not  only  in  a  temporal,  but  in  a  spiritual 
sense.  Such  a  character,  if  physicially  able  to  do 
better,  is  of  but  little  worth,  either  to  God  or  man; 
and  the  only  remedy,  if  he  will  not  reform,  is  to 
deal  with  him  as  the  dresser  of  the  vineyard  was 
directed  to  do  with  the  "barren  fig-tree" — "  cut  it 
down;  why  cumbereth  it  the  ground?" 

Having  made  these  preliminary  statements,  we 
proceed  to  brieflj^  assign  a  few  reasons,  out  of  the 
many  that  might  be  given,  to  enforce  Christian 
liberality. 

The  Bible  clearly  teaches  that  Christians  are 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  191 

God's  stewards.  The  statement  may  be  denied, 
forgotten,  or  disregarded;  still  it  is  forever  true 
that  we  are  not  the  owners,  in  an  absolute  sense, 
of  that  which  we  claim  as  ours.  On  our  time, 
talents,  influence,  property — on  all  that  we  have 
and  are — the  finger  of  Jehovah  has  written,  "Oc- 
cupy till  I  come."  God  created  all  things;  there- 
fore his  claim  is  not  only  a  ])rior^  but  an  absolute 
one.  His  are  all  the  "beasts  of  the  forest,"  and 
"the  cattle  upon  a  thousand  hills."  The  same  is 
true  of  all  the  silver,  of  all  the  gold,  and  of  all  the 
merchandise  which  have  been  intrusted  to  man. 
If  not,  let  any  one  name,  if  he  can,  a  single  good 
thing  which  he  can  certainly  claim  will  be  his  to- 
morrow. Not  a  single  thing  can  be  named.  He, 
therefore,  w^ho  has  nothing  which  he  can  hold  a 
single  day,  has  nothing  except  what  he  holds 
simply  as  an  agent.  To  whom,  then,  do  they  be- 
long? There  is  but  one  answer;  they  are  the 
Lord's.  And  what  was  the  Lord's  at  first,  because 
he  made  it,  he  has  carefully  watched  over  and 
preserved.  Not  merely  could  man  have  had 
nothing,  if  God  had  not  made  it;  but  he  could 
have  kept  nothing,  if  God  had  not  preserved  it. 
At  any  moment,  therefore,  God  has  a  perfect 
right  to  say,  "  Give  an  account  of  thy  steward- 
ship; for  thou  mayest  be  no  longer  steward." 
Time  and  again,  too,  has  God  asserted  his  abso- 
lute claim  to  the  property  of  the  world.  Once, 
by  a  sudden  and  fearful  dispensation,  he  displaced 
ever}^  tenant  that   had   ever  occupied  the  earth, 


192  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

\ 

providing  beforehand,  timely  and  amply,  for  the 
sins^le  family  that  he  loved,  and  whom  by  cove- 
nant  he  had  adopted  as  his  own.  Surely  none  can 
be  so  impious  as  to  assert  that  he  went  beyond 
his  own  dominions  to  \aj  waste  a  world  that  was 
the  property  of  another.  When  he  burned  the 
'-  cities  of  the  plain,"  he  only  asserted,  though 
loudlv  and  fearfully,  his  own  rii^hts;  and  pressed 
home  to  the  bosom  and  the  conscience,  of  friend 
and  foe,  his  claijn  to  be  served  and  honored,  in 
every  valley  that  he  had  made  fertile,  and  by 
every  people  whom  his  kindness  had  made  pros- 
perous. The  truth,  then,  of  the  Christian's 
stewardship  is  beyond  a  peradventure.  And  as 
it  is  a  bad  sign  to  see  the  agent  of  a  wealthy  man 
growing  rich  while  his  employer's  interests  are 
not  advancing,  is  it  not  equalh'  so  in  reference  to 
the  cause  of  religion?  To  all  such  the  words  of 
our  Saviour  are  especially  solemn  and  alarming — 
"Inasmuch  as  ye  did  it  not."  It  is  not  needful 
to  our  condemnation  that  we  use  our  wealth  for 
positively  evil  ends — that  we  squander  it  in  dis- 
sipation, in  spreading  error,  or  in  corrupting  our 
fellow-men — it  is  only  necessary,  as  God  teaches, 
not  to  use  it  for  doing  good,  not  to  use  it  as  faith- 
ful stewards  of  the  great  Giver,  not  to  use  it  as 
God  directs;  for  this  is  the  ''hiding  of  the  talent 
in  the  napkin,"  and  will  incur  the  doom  of  the 
"wicked  and  slothful  servant." 

In  the  next  place,  the  cause  of  religion  demands 
such  liberalit}'.     True,  the  kingdom  of  Christ  is, 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  193 

in  its  essence,  a  spiritual  kingdonfi;  but.  like  the 
human  soul,  it  needs  and  must  have,  a  body — a. 
material  organization — through  which  this  inner 
life  is  manifested.  That  body  is  the  Church. 
The  word  Church  is  used  in  its  broadest  sense, 
embracing  not  only  its  membership,  but  its  build- 
ings, its  ministry,  its  Sabbath-schools,  its  litera- 
ture, etc.,  etc.  These  are  indispensable  to  effi- 
ciency; and  surely  it  demands  no  labored  argu- 
ment to  convince  any  reflecting  mind  that  it  re- 
quires money,  and  no  small  amount  either,  to 
meet  these  necessary  expenses.  Human  govern- 
ments are  kept  up  at  an  immense  cost;  and  the 
citizens  of  these  governments  are  suljjected  to 
heavy  taxes  to  meet  these  necessary  outlays.  Xo 
member  of  one  of  these  commonwealths,  if  he 
will  reflect  for  a  moment,  can  call  in  question 
either  the  propriety  or  the  necessity  of  such  de- 
mands upon  him;  for  he  knows  that  without 
these  taxes  his  commonwealth  could  not  exist. 
Legislative  halls,  court-houses,  prisons,  public 
highways,  etc.,  etc.,  must  be  built,  and  the 
"officers  of  the  law"'  must  be  compensated  for 
their  services;  and  no  one,  who  is  not  a  heathen 
or  an  outlaw,  thinks  it  at  all  burdensome  to  pay 
money  in  return  for  the  advantages  which  he  en- 
joys in  the  protection  of  person,  property,  etc., 
from  this  ••governmental  machinery."  In  a  word, 
no  earthly  government  could  exist  for  a  day  with- 
out money  or  its  equivalent;  and  the  same  is  true 
of  the  kingdom  of  our  Lord  and  of  his  Christ. 
13 


194  PULriT    AND    TEW. 

It  is,  too,  a  wise  provision  of  our  Heavenly  Father 
that  these  things  are  so;  because,  constituted  as 
we  are,  it  is  next  to  impossible  for  us  to  appre- 
ciate, as  we  should,  any  blessing  or  comfort  wiiich 
costs  us  nothing.  Even,  then,  if  it  could  have 
been  done,  it  would  have  been  a  great  calamity 
for  the  Church  to  have  been  so  organized  as  to 
have  exempted  its  members  from  contributing 
labor,  time,  mone}',  etc.,  to  its  upbuilding  and  ex- 
pansion. The  true  measure  of  our  devotion  to  an 
object  is  what  we  are  ready  to  give  for  it.  Until 
we  make  sacrifices  for  a  cause,  we  furnish  no 
proof  that  the  cause  has  the  sympathy  of  our 
hearts.  We  do  not  really  know  to  what  extent 
we  love  a  friend  unless  we  are  called  upon  to 
choose  between  his  welfare  and  something  that  we 
very  much  dislike  to  surrender.  No  loving  or 
giving  is  worth  any  thing  that  does  not  involve  a 
readiness  for  sacrifice  and  self-denial.  Thanks  to 
a  merciful  Providence,  however,  the  Church  has 
not  been  so  organized  as  to  relieve  its  member- 
sliip  of  the  duty  and  necessity  of  making  contri- 
butions in  its  behalf.  On  the  contrary,  God  has 
said  to  each  one  of  his  children,  "  Honor  the  Lord 
with  thy  substance."  No  Christian,  then,  can  for 
a  moment  think  of  the  vast  work  to  be  done,  and 
yet  doubt  his  obligations  to  give  "as  God  has 
prospered  him." 

Moreover,  it  is  to  the  pecuniary  interest  of 
Christians  to  thus  contribute.  The  Bible  teaches 
that  giving  to  the  cause  of  religion, like  keeping 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  195 

the  Sabbath,  has  its  own  reward.  The  seventh 
part  of  our  time,  and  a  certain  portion  of  our  in- 
come, belong  to  Grod.  We  may  appropriate  both 
to  our  own  use,  but  if  we  do,  we  suffer  loss  in 
temporal  as  well  as  in  spiritual  blessings.  Now, 
why  it  is  that  if  a  Christian  shall  give  a  liberal 
part  of  his  income  to  God,  he  will  be  more  pros- 
l^erous  in  temporal  things  than  if  he  kept  or  tried 
to  keep  the  whole,  we  may  not  be  able  to  explain 
to  the  satisfaction  of  all.  But  whether  this  can 
be  done  or  not,  the  fact  remains,  aritl  that  is  what 
particularly  concerns  us.  That  this  is  God's  own 
teaching,  the  following  scriptures  clearly  prove: 

"Honor  the  Lord  with  thy  substance,  and  with 
the  first  fruits  of  all  thine  increase:  so  shall  thy 
barns  be  filled  with  plenty,  and  thy  presses  shall 
burst  out  with  new  wine."     (Prov.  iii.  9,  10.) 

"There  is  that  scattereth  and  yet  increaseth; 
and  there  is  that  withholdeth  more  than  is  meet, 
but  it  tendeth  to  poverty,  The  liberal  soul  shall 
be  made  fat:  and  ho  that  watereth  shall  be  watered 
also  himself."     (Prov.  xi.  24,  25.) 

"And  if  thou  draw  out  thy  soul  to  the  hungry, 
and  satisfy  the  afflicted  soul,  then  shall  th}^  light 
shine  in  obscurity,  and  thy  darkness  bo  as  noon- 
day; and  the  Lord  shall  guide  thee  continually, 
and  satisfy  thy  soul  in  drought,  and  make  fat  thy 
bones;  and  thou  shalt  be  watered  like  a  garden, 
and  the  springs  of  water  whose  waters  fail  not." 
(Is.  Iviii.  10,11.) 

"Bring  ye  all  the  tithes  into  the  storehouse, 


196  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

that  there  may  be  meat  in  my  house;  and  prove 
me  now,  herewith,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  if  I 
will  not  open  you  the  windows  of  heaven  and 
pour  you  out  a  blessing  that  there  shall  not  be 
room  enough  to  reeeive  it.  And  I  will  rebuke 
the  devourer  for  your  sakes,  and  he  shall  not 
destroy  the  fruits  of  your  ground,  neither  shall 
the  vine  cast  her  fruit  before  the  time  in  the  field, 
saith  the  Lord  of  hosts."     (Mai.  iii.  10,11  .) 

"  Give,  and  it  shall  be  given  unto  you — good 
measure,  pressed  down,  shaken  together  and  run- 
ning over,  shall  men  give  into  your  bosom.  For 
with  the  same  measure  you  mete  withal  it  shall 
be  measured  to  you  again."     (Luke  vi.  38.) 

"I  have  showed  you  all  things,  how  that  so 
laboring  ye  ought  to  support  the  weak,  and  to  re- 
member the  words  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  how  he 
said,  'It  is  more  blessed  to  give  than  to  receive.'" 
(Acts  XX.  35.) 

"Every  man  as  he  purposeth  in  his  heart,  so  let 
him  give;  not  grudgingly  or  of  necessity;  for 
God  loveth  a  cheerful  giver.  And  God  is  able  to 
make  all  grace  (the  word  'grace'  here  refers  to 
temporal  blessings)  abound  toward  you;  that  ye 
always,  having  all  sufficiency  in  all  things,  may 
abound  to  every  good  work."     (2  Cor.  ix.  7,  8.) 

Many  other  passages  of  similar  imj^ort  might 
be  produced,  but  these  arc  sufficient.  If,  how- 
ever, Revelation  were  silent  upon  the  subject, 
Eeason  would  teach  us  that  God  would  take  care 
of  those  who  sustain  his  cause.     Indeed,  be  it  said 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  197 

with  the  most  profound  reverence,  God  could  not 
afford  to  let  those  suffer  upon  whom  he  relies  to 
advance  the  interests  of  his  Zion ;  for  if  they  were 
permitted  to  come  to  poverty,  then  his  cause 
would  make  but  little  progress,  if,  indeed,  it  did 
not  come  to  naught.  Whithersoever  we  look,  too, 
we  see  a  verification  of  the  sentiment  insisted 
uj^on.  The  most  prosperous  Christians,  both  in 
spiritual  and  temporal  matters,  are  those  who 
contribute  most  liberally  to  the  cause  of  religion. 
This  fact  has  not  escaped  the  notice  of  all  observ- 
ing persons.  Especially  would  this  declaration 
be  sustained  by  all  who  have  acted  as  agents  for 
raising  money  in  their  respective  denominations. 
In  a  word,  the  accumulated  testimony  of  all  ages 
is  to  the  same  effect.  Then  whj^  is  it  that  Chris- 
tians will  refuse  to  give,  and  to  give  liberally,  too, 
when  they  have  such  assurances  of  God's  bless- 
ings, provided  thc}^  will  do  so?  No  man,  perhaps, 
caii  find  a  single  exception  to  the  fact  that 
Heaven's  benedictions  are  upon  those  who  meet 
their  obligations  in  this  particular. 

Again,  God  positively  requires  these  contribu- 
tions. "He  that  hath  a  bountiful  eye  shall  be 
blessed" — "Trust  in  the  Lord,  and  do  good" — 
"Whosoever  hath  this  world's  goods,  and  seeth 
his  brother  have  need,  and  shutteth  his  bowels  of 
compassion  from  him,  how  dwelleth  the  love  of 
God  in  him,"  etc.,  etc. 

The  Eible  abounds  with  similar  passages,  but 
want  of  space  prevents  their  insertion.     And  in 


198  PULPIT    ANl)    PEW. 

addition  to  these  positive  commands  we  have  the 
examples  of  the  purest  and  best  characters  whose 
lives  are  recorded  in  the  Scriptures — Noah,  Abra- 
ham, Job,  Cornelius,  etc.,  etc.  Indeed,  the  first 
act  of  homage  paid  to  the  blessed  Saviour  was  in 
the  form  of  "gifts,  gold,  frankincense,  and  myrrh." 
Not  only  has  God  made  this  demand  in  lan- 
guage which  cannot  be  misunderstood,  and  by 
the  example  of  the  purest  and  best  of  his  servants, 
in  everj  age  of  the  world ;  but  likewise  by  the 
judgments  which  he  has  visited  upon  the  human 
race  because  his  demands  in  this  particular  have 
not  been  complied  with.  Time  and  again  did  he 
punish,  in  the  severest  manner,  the  Jewish  nation 
for  a  failure  to  meet  their  obligations  in  this  par- 
ticular. Once  they  were  sent  into  captivity  for 
seventy  years,  during  which  time  they  endured 
the  greatest  suffering;  and  the  principal  sin  for 
which  they  were  so  severely  punished  was  for 
neglecting  to  pay  their  tithes.  Think  of  it — 
seventy  years  of  the  severest  hardships  and  suffer- 
ings of  a  whole  nation — men,  women,  and  chil- 
dren— principall}'  because  of  neglect  to  honor  God 
with  the  offerings  Avhich  he  demanded.  But  we 
are  not  to  understand  that  the  Jews  were  the 
only  people  who  have  received  the  chastisements 
of  Heaven  because  of  a  failure  to  recognize  the 
fixct  that  God  has  a  prior  claim  to  the  property  of 
this  world.  In  the  ruin  of  the  ancient  mon- 
archies, God  is  seen  in  the  attitude  of  asserting 
his  claim.     The  people  refused  to  recognize  the 


PULPIT    Ax\D    PEW.  199 

fact;  and  with  pestilence,  famine,  war,  etc.,  God 
wrenched  from  their  hands  the  property  with 
which  they  should  have  honored  him.  Indeed, 
who  knows  but  that  the  aggregate  of  all  the 
property  lost  by  the  various  calamities  which  God 
has  sent  upon  the  children  of  men  would  have 
exactly  met  the  claims  which  he  had  upon  them? 
Had  that  wealth  been  expended  as  he  demanded, 
who  can  say  that  these  calamities  would  not  have 
been  averted?  And  who  will  dare  say  that  the 
storms  which  now  wreck  our  merchandise,  the 
fires  which  now  burn  our  cities,  and  the  mis- 
named casualties  which  now  destroy  our  private 
estates,  are  not  so  many  claims  put  in  by  the 
rightful  owner  of  all  things?  Who  can  say  how 
much  more  prosperous  this  w^orld  might  be  if 
men  would  use  their  property  as  God  would  have 
them — how  much  more  frequently  the  showers 
would'  fall — how  much  more  fertile  our  soil — how 
much  more  healthful  our  population,  if  we  were 
a  better  people,  and  served  God  more  faithfully 
with  our  substance?  These  calamities  are  God's 
officers  for  collecting  his  demands;  and  if  Chris- 
tians wait  until  they  are  sent  after  them,  they 
may  expect  to  pay  not  only  the  principal  but 
compound  interest.  Doubtless  many  who  read 
these  pages  can  refer  to  instances  (it  may  be  in 
their  own  case)  w4iere  God  collected  his  own  bills 
by  fire,  storm,  drought,  dearth,  etc.;  nor  did  they 
fall  to  observe  that  the  amount  collected  was 
"God's  own  with  usury."     Signal  mercies,  if  mis- 


200  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

used,  must  provoke  signal  judgments;  and  Chris- 
tians, if  unfaithful  to  their  high  trust,  will  be 
made  examples  of  God's  sore  displeasure.  The 
truth  is,  in  one  sense,  God  is  the  controlling  part- 
ner of  every  firm,  and  he  can  and  will  dispose  of 
the  assets  as  he  jileases.  No  merchant  or  banker 
has  a  safe  the  combination  of  which  God  does  not 
understand,  and  whenever  he  so-  determines  he 
will  unlock  that  vault  and  scatter  its  contents  to 
the  four  winds  of  heaven. 

With  these  facts  before  us,  where  is  the  Chris- 
tian who  can  refuse  to  contribute  to  the  cause  of 
religion?  His  interests  for  time  and  eternity 
urge  him  to  the  discharge  of  the  obligation.  No 
child  of  God  can  hope  to  prosper  spiritually  or 
temporally  who  refuses  to  do  so.  Giving  to  the 
cause  of  God  is  an  act  of  worship,  as  much  so  as 
prayer  and  praise.  It  is  an  act  of  worship,  too, 
which  is  sure  to  be  followed  by  the  Divine  bless- 
ing, for  the  promise  is,  "Them  that  honor  me  I 
will  honor";  also,  "Give,  and  it  shall  be  given 
unto  you;  good  measure,  pressed  down,  and 
shaken  together."  Now,  the  amount  to  be  given 
by  each  is  a  matter  not  definitely  settled  in  the 
New  Testament.  With  the  Bible  before  us,  how- 
ever, we  feel  authorized  to  say  it  should  not  be 
less  than  one-tenth.  The  Jews  were  required  to 
give  that  amount;  and  this  Avas  demanded  of 
them,  too,  when  they  were  not  required  to  look 
after  the  sjiiritual  interests  of  any  nation  or 
people  save  themselves.     It  is  different  now,  for 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  201 

''the  field  is  the  world" — the  whole  family  of 
man — and  it  would  seem  that  the  obligation  to 
ChrinStian  liberality  is  thereby  increased.  Of  one 
thing  we  may  be  sure:  no  one  ever  lost  by  giving 
to  God.  There  is,  then,  neither  excuse  nor  pallia- 
tion for  niggardly,  penurious  giving  to  the  cause 
of  Christ.  Wealth,  without  God's  blessing,  is  a 
curse.  No  millionaire  is  happy  merely  because 
he  owns  a  million  of  dollars.  What  if  a  man 
owned  California  and  Australia ;  what  would  it 
all  amount  to  when  he  died?  The  j^oor  man  with 
one  dollar  in  his  pocket  is  richer  than  the  million- 
aire who  died  on  yesterday.  No  doubt  the  friends 
of  the  rich  man  who  is  spoken  of  in  the  New 
Testament  wrote  an  elaborate  epitaph  upon  his 
tombstone;  but  God  wrote  a  very  brief  one — an 
ejDitaph  of  four  letters — "Fool."  Wealth  cannot 
satisfy  the  immortal  soul — like  salt  water,  the 
more  one  drinks  of  it  the  more  thirsty  he  is. 
When  Dives  died,  of  what  use  was  all  his  wealth 
to  him?  The  poorest  man  who  stood  by  the  side 
of  the  road,  watching  the  grand  funeral  proces 
sion,  owned  more  of  this  world  than  did  the  dead 
gormandizer. 

Let,  then,  every  Christian  seriously  consider 
his  duty  in  this  particular.  Instead  of  accumu- 
lating property  to  curse  his  children,  let  him  use 
that  property  to  feed  the  hungry,  clothe  the 
naked,  instruct  the  ignorant,  and  build  up  the 
cause  of  Christ.  The  principal  difference  between 
a  liberal   Christian  and  a   penurious   one  is   the 


202  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

place  in  wbicli  they  make  their  deposits.  The 
latter  piit.s  his  in  the  hands  of  man;  the  former 
in  the  hands  of  God — in  the  hands  of  Him  whose 
assets  are  infinite — ow^ns  all  the  quarries,  all  the 
mines,  all  the  gold,  all  the  universe. 

The  assertion  is  made  with  grief;  but  there  are 
ministers  (not  many,  thank  Heaven)  who  really 
use  their  influence  in  trying  to  prevent  their 
people  from  giving  to  any  cause  outside  of  their 
own  congregational  expenses.  These  preachers 
seem  to  think  that  ever}^  cent  which  their  people 
give  to  "outside  objects"  is  that  much  lost  from 
their  own  salaries.  Such  men  are  absolutely 
cither  too  ignorant  or  too  sordid  to  be  allowed  to 
preach  to  any  people.  A  minister  who  acts  on 
such  a  principle  ought  to  suffer — indeed,  he  ought 
not  to  be  permitted  to  occupy  the  pulpit.  Such 
a  theorj^  is  not  only  at  war  with  the  requisitions 
of  our  holy  religion,  but  with  pfain  common 
sense.  When  the  claims  of  duty  are  admitted  in 
one  direction,  they  sweep  on  until  they  cover  the 
whole  field.  It  is  a  fact  to  which  there  is  no  ex- 
ception, that  the  Church-members  who  give  the 
most  money  to  outside  objects  are  always  the 
most  liberal  in  the  support  of  their  minister. 
The  very  worst  policy,  therefore,  which  a  preacher 
can  adopt  for  his  own  pecuniary  interest  is  to 
countenance  and  encourage  the  withholding  of 
contributions  to  other  causes  outside  of  his  own 
charge.  By  so  doing  he  contributes  his  influence 
toward  making  his  people  as  contemptibly  selfish 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  203 

and  penurious  as  he  is  himself.  And  should  he 
suceeed,  his  own  name  and  that  of  his  members 
should  be  stricken^ from  the  roll — his  from  the 
roll-book  of  the  ministry,  and  theirs  from  the 
roll-book  of  Churches;  for  he  and  they  will  be  an 
incubus  to  any  denomination. 

9.   They  must  he  earnest  and  zealous  in  their  lives. 

If  Christianity  be  true — if  there  is  a  God,  a 
Christ,  a  heaven,  a  hell — then  the  one  believing 
it  to  be  so  is  justified  in  exhibiting  the  utmost 
zeal  in  its  behalf  One  life  only  is  appointed  to 
us  on  earth  to  attend  to  the  work  on  which  our 
own  everlasting  life  depends;  and  one  life  only  is 
given  to  us  in  this  world  to  meet  the  solemn  obli- 
gations which  we  owe  to  others.  There  is  no 
coming  hither  again  to  correct  or  amend  what 
has  been  done  amiss.  Heaven  and  hell  are  for 
other  work.  The  harvest  presupposes  the 
seed-time.  It  is  noio  that  w^e  must  sow,  and  it  is 
hereafter  that  we  must  reap.  It  is  now  that  we 
must  work,  and  then  that  we  must  receive  wages. 
Every  Christian,  therefore,  should  labor  in  this 
life  as  though  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ  de- 
pended upon  himself  The  ministry  must  not 
leave  the  matter  to  the  laity,  nor  the  laity  to  the 
ministry.  The  rich  must  not  intrust  the  work 
to  the  2)Oor,  nor  the  poor  to  the  rich.  All  must 
work.  Every  soul  that  God  has  created  l^as  a 
sphere  of  usefulness.  Every  Christian  on  earth 
can    throw  some  weight   into   the   gospel    scale. 


2iJ4  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

Idleness  is  one  of  Satan's  most  efficient  assistants. 
No  created  being  was  ever  intended  to  spend  his 
life  in  doing  nothing.  Work  is  the  allotment  of 
all  God's  creatures.  The  angels  in  heaven  work — 
arc  "ministering  spirits  sent  forth  to  minister  to 
them  who  shall  become  heirs  of  salvation."  Adam 
in  paradise  w^as  required  to  work — he  was  to 
''dress  and  keep"  the  garden  of  Eden.  There- 
deemed  saints  in  glory  work — "they  rest  not  day 
and  night."  Likewise  every  Christian  must 
w^ork,  and  that  earnestly,  too,  else  he  will  become 
a  spiritual  dwarf.  Every  thing  around  us  teaches 
the  same  lesson.  It  is  the  still  water  which  be- 
becomes  stagnant  and  impure;  the  running 
streams  are  clear.  An  active,  moving  Christian 
is  a  difficult  target  for  Satan  to  shoot  at.  In  such 
a  life  there  is  no  place  in  which  to  sow  tares.  In- 
deed, life  is  so  short,  that  we  cannot  afford  to  lose 
any  part  of  it  in  abortive  efforts.  When  we  be- 
come satisfied  as  to  our  individual  work,  it  is  true 
Avisdom  to  begin  it  instantly,  and  to  prosecute  it 
with  energy  until  it  is  comj^leted.  Christian  in- 
dustry is  the  outlet  of  a  fervent  spirit,  and  of  a 
Christ-devoted  heart.  The  industry  which  is  not 
fervent  is  not  Christian;  and,  on  the  x)ther  hand, 
the  love  which  does  not  develop  itself  in  action 
will  soon  wilt  and  die.  He  who  has  an  eye  to 
Christ  in  all  that  be  does,  and  whose  spirit  is  full 
of  that  energy,  will  never  become  weary  in  well- 
doing. The  joys  of  religion  are  cultivated  onl}^ 
by  cultivating   a    love   of  its    duties.     Religious 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  205 

feeling  without  religious  action  is  a  monstrosity — 
is  like  professed  piitriotisiii  in  the  bosom  of  a 
coward.  Pious  impulses,  when  they  do  not  lead 
to  active  duties,  are  hypocritical  shanis.  The  law 
of  our  holy  religion  is,  "Diligent  in  business,  fer- 
vent iu  spirit,  serving  the  Lord."  Christianity 
demands  something  else  besides  mental  abstrac- 
tions, "be  they  never  so  devout."  The  members 
of  Christ's  Church  are  to  be  ^^  doers  of  the  word, 
and  not  hearers  only."  The  best  Christians  in  the 
world  are  those  who  have  the  warmest  hearts  for 
God,  and  the  most  industrious  hands  for  his  serv- 
ice. The  spirit  and  enjoyments  of  religion  may, 
likewise,  be  carried  into  every  lawful  avocation. 
The  harvest-field  may  be  an  altar,  and  the  work- 
shop a  sanctuary.  The  Christian  can  re-enact 
the  story  of  the  good  Samaritan  without  visiting 
the  highway  which  leads  from  Jerusalem  to 
Jericho;  and  he  can  put  Paul's  zeal  into  his  own 
life  without  journeying  through  Asia  .and  Greece 
to  Rome. 

One  of  the  greatest  wants  of  the  Christianity 
of  this  day,  is  an  unreserved  consecration  of  the 
membership.  With  siich  a  consecration,  what 
could  the  present  Church-membership  do  ?  rather 
what  could  it  not  do?  Every  one  then  would  be 
a  true  soldier,  armed  and  equipped  for  the  service 
of  his  Master.  If  this  world  is  ever  to  be  sub- 
dued to  Christ,  it  must  be  taken,  not  by  siege,  but 
by  storm.  The  enemy  cannot  be  starved  out  by 
cutting  off  his  supplies ;  his  fortifications  must  be 


206  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

scaled,  and  his  weapons  wrenclied  from  his 
clenched  hand.  The  Christian,  then,  cannot 
afford  to  sit  down  and  do  nothing.  Yet  many 
seem  to  act  as  if  all  they  had  to  do  was  to  take 
passage  on  the  grand  old  ship  of  Zion,  sit  down 
in  the  cabin,  and  make  the  voyage  without  effort. 
Instead  of  this,  each  one  should  consider  himself 
a  '/deck  "  passenger — must  "work"  his  way.  Of 
course  we  do  not  mean  that  "works"  will  save 
the  soul;  but  they  will  make  the  voyage  more 
pleasant,  safe,  and  profitable. 

It  is  in  spiritual  as  in  temporal  warfare — the 
cowards  are  in  the  greatest  danger.  The  safest 
and  most  honorable  position  for  a  soldier  is  in 
front.  The  skulking  poltroons  always  endure 
the  most  suffering,  and  they  deserve  it.  Timid 
Christians,  like  hot-house  plants,  are  always  de- 
fective in  strength  and  vigor.  The  world  needs 
a  strong,  robust,  religion — a  religion  that  feeds 
upon  "strong  meat"  instead  of  upon  the  gruel  of 
invalids.  Indeed,  a  religion  that  does  not  prompt 
its  possessor  to  work  all  the  week  as  well  as  upon 
the  Sabbath  is  not  worth  having;  nor  does  it  ac- 
complish any  beneficial  results.  God  does  not  in- 
tend that  the  Church  shall  be  a  dormitory  in 
which  Christians  may  quietly  go  to  sleep,  but  he 
does  intend  that  it  shall  be  an  arsenal  in  which 
they  may  polish  and  sharj^en  their  spiritual 
weapons. 

It  is  a  trite  but  true  saying,  "Better  wear  out 
than  rust  out."     There  is  not  an  atom  in  the  vast 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  207 

universe  that  is  idle — air,  ocean,  river,  rill,  all,  all 
are  in  ceaseless  motion.  Yet  they  are  for  time; 
but  the  Christian  for  eternity.  Their  destiny  is 
fixed  for  them ;  the  Christian  makes  his  own  ac- 
cording to  the  work  of  his  hands.  Said  a  very 
terse  writer  of  modern  times,  "Among  the  many 
imj^ossibilities,  there  are  three  which  I  w411  men- 
tion: To  overestimate  the  greatness  of  redeeming 
love;  to  overestimate  the  joys  which  God  has 
prepared  for  those  who  love  him;  and  to  over- 
estimate the  obligations  which  we  are  under  to 
consecrate  our  time,  our  talents,  and  all  that  wo 
have  and  are,  to  the  promotion  of  God's  glory 
and  the  happiness  of  our  fellow-men.  With  such 
a  consecration,  no  man  has  ever  avowed,  or  ever 
can  say,  on  a  dying  bed,  that  if  be  had  his  life  to 
live  over  again,  he  would  serve  his  Maker  less 
zealously,  and  would  do  less  for  his  fellow-man." 
In  secular  matters,  none  but  the  earnest  and 
energetic  succeed.  The  world  not  only  respects 
a  man  of  this  kind,  but  it  instinctively  gets  out 
of  his  way  and  gives  him  room.  The  same  is 
true  in  religion.  It  is  the  earnest,  zealous  Chris- 
tian that  accomplishes  results.  None  have  so 
much  enjoyment  of  Christ  as  those  who  are  con- 
stantly and  earnestly  engaged  in  their  '-Father's 
business" — zealous  for  his  glory — full  of  anxiety 
about  the  souls  of  others — and  ever  watching, 
working,  striving,  to  extend  the  Eedeemer's 
kingdom  upon  earth.  Such  Christians  live  near 
the   Cross,   and   their   hearts    are    alwaj^s   warm, 


208  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

They  arc  not  only  the  foundation  stones,  but  the 
pilhirs  of  the  organizations  to  which  they  be- 
long— yea,  are  the  "few  righteous"  who  save  the 
Sodoms  of  this  world.  They  are  the  ones  who 
build  churches,  support  jDreachcrs,  endow  colleges, 
sustain  missions,  and  lead  in  all  the  grand  benev- 
olent enterpi-ises  of  the  Church.  This  zeal,  too, 
thanks  be  to  our  Heavenly  Father,  is  contagious. 
It  is  sadly  true  that  "one  sinner  destroyeth  much 
good";  but  it  is  likewise  joyfully  true  that  one 
zealous  Christian  can  do  much  good.  One  single 
zealous  man  in  a  congregation  is  of  inestimable 
value.  He  awakens  Christian  activities  that, 
otherwise,  would  remain  dormant,  and  opens 
many  fountains  which,  without  his  influence, 
would  remain  forever  sealed.  There  is  a  mine  of 
truth  in  those  words  of  the  Apostle  Paul  to  the 
Corinthians,  "Your  zeal  hath  provoked  very 
many."     (2  Cor.  ix.  2.) 

It  was  the  zeal  upon  which  we  are  now  insist- 
ing that  enabled  the  early  Christians  to  accom- 
plish such  wonderful  results.  In  what  respect 
did  the  ability  of  the  primitive  Church  differ 
from  that  of  the  Christians  of  the  present  time? 
Had  it  greater  wealth  or  intelligence,  or  more  of 
any  thing  which  we  reckon  under  the  denomina- 
tion of  resources?  No  one  can  answer  in  the 
affirmative.  All  external  advantages  are  de- 
cidedly in  favor  of  the  Christianity  of  this  age. 
We  have  more  knowledge  than  they;  more 
wealth  than  they;  greater  facilities  of  intercourse 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  209 

both  by  land  and  water  than  they;  more  religious 
liberty  than  they;  more,  in  a  word,  of  every  thing 
than  they,  except  religious  zeal.  Theirs  was  a 
rugged  and  dangerous  road;  for  in  it  were 
arrayed  the  implements  of  torture  and  of  death. 
But,  undismayed,  they  went  forward;  and  some 
of  their  most  malignant  foes  became  their  most 
ardent  friends.  True,  persecution  kindled  its 
hottest  fires;  but  their  own  blood  extinguished 
the  flames.  Wherever  they  went  idol  deities 
were  dethroned,  and  idol  temples  were  destroj^ed. 
We,  no  doubt,  talk  more  and  write  more  about 
Church-work  than  they;  but,  unfortunately,  we 
act  less.  We  can  surpass  them  in  resolving^  but 
they  were  far  ahead  of  us  in  doing.  If  any  thing 
was  to  be  done,  instead  of  calling  meetings,  pass- 
ing resolutions,  and  then  leaving  the  work  uri-' 
done,  they  went  boldly  forward  and  did  it.  How 
appropriately  is  one  book  of  the  New  Testament 
named,  not  the  Resolutions^  but  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles ! 

The  wants  of  the  age  demand  not  only  a  vigor- 
ous but  an  individual  Christianity.  The  motto  of 
John  Wesley  was,  ^^All  at  it,  and  alicays  at  it." 
And  that  of  the  blessed  Saviour  was,  and  is,  "  To 
every  man  his  work."  True,  all  have  not  the  same 
work,  or  the  same  gifts ;  and  it  is  a  wise  provision 
of  our  Heavenly  Father  that  they  have  not. 
''Having  then  gifts  differing  accordiTig  to  the 
grace  that  is  given  to  us,  whether  prophecy, 
let  us  prophesy  according  to  the  proportion  of 
14 


210  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

faith;  or  ministry,  let  us  wait  on  our  ministering; 
or  he  that  teacheth,  on  teaching;  or  he  that  ex- 
horteth,  on  exhortation ;  he  that  giveth,  let  him 
do  it  with  simplicity;  he  that  ruleth,  Avith 
diligence;  he  that  showeth  mercy,  with  cheerful- 
ness." (Rom.  xii.  6-8.)  The  rule,  then,  laid 
down  by  Paul  is,  that  every  true  Christian,  after 
having  prayed  earnestly  over  the  matter,  should 
take  the  place  assigned  to  him  in  the  providence 
of  God.  The  expression  may  seem  to  some  to  be 
a  strong  one — perhaps  an  extravagant  one — but 
there  is  not  a  Christian  on  earth  who  has  not  a 
specific  work,  and  he  can  do  that  work  better 
than  any  other  member  of  the  body  of  Christ. 
Each  child  of  God,  therefore,  should,  like  Paul, 
ask,  "Lord,  what  wilt  thou  have  me  to  do"? 
Not  a  single  Christian — no,  not  one — is  at  liberty 
to  "neglect  the  gift  that  is  in  him."  Says  Dr. 
Dulles,  "When  the  car  of  Juggernaut  is  to  be 
drawn,  every  man  who  can  pull  a  pound  must  pull 
that  i)ound.  In  the  Church  of  Christ  every  man 
can  pull  his  pound.  There  is  a  place  for  the  old 
and  a  place  for  the  young,  for  the  poor  as  well  as 
the  rich,  for  the  unlearned  as  truly  as  for  the 
learned.  What  is  needed  is  an  earnest  resolve  to 
find  our  place,  and  with  God's  help  to  fill  it.  The 
places  are  as  various  as  our  capacities.  In  the 
Sabbath-school  there  is  a  call  for  superintendents, 
secretaries;  treasurers,  and  lil>rarians,f()r  teachers, 
visitors,  sextons,  scholars,  and  givers.  In  the 
praj^er-mceting    there    is    a    place    for    earnest 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  211 

speakers,  believing  prayers,  hearty  singers,  and 
punctual,  teachable  hearers.  In  the  Church  are 
needed  elders,  deacons,  ushers,  singers.  Others 
can  serve  the  Master  by  visiting  the  poor,  the 
stranger,  and  the  afflicted,  and  by  nursing  the 
sick.  The  night-school,  the  sewing-school,  the 
Dorcas  society,  the  mothers'  meeting,  tract  dis- 
tribution, collecting  for  missions,  and  other  fields 
are  open  to  willing  hearts.  No  man,  woman,  or 
child  need  say  that  there  is  nothing  for  him  or 
for  her  to  do.  Let  each  find  his  work  and  do  it," 
No  member  of  the  Church,  then,  has  any  more 
right  to  turn  over  his  spiritual  work  to  his  neigh- 
bor than  ho  has  to  ask  him  to  eat  and  digest  his 
food  for  him.  He  ^leeds  to  do  his  own  work  as 
much  as  the  interests  of  Christ's  kingdom  need 
to  have  it  done.  There  is  an  untold  amount  of 
latent  power  in  the  Church  which  has  never  been 
develojied,  and  never  can  be  developed  until  each 
member  recognizes  the  binding  force  of  the 
Saviour's  words,  "To  every  man  his  work." 
Thrice  happy,  therefore,  the  minister  who  can  de- 
veloj)  this  latent  power;  and  thrice  blessed  is  the 
congregation  each  of  whose  members  will  con- 
sent to  obey  the  teaching  of  the  Bible  upon  this 
point. 

10.  They  must  pray  for  their  minister,  and  must 
co-operate  icith  him  in  Church-vjork. 

Prayer  is  one  of  the  most  potent  influences 
which    the   Christian    can    wield.      Indeed,    even 


212  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

with  the  Bible  to  aid  ns,  we  are  unable  to  ascer- 
tain the  possibilities  of  this  instrumentality; 
because  that  blessed  Book  nowhere  defines  them. 
It  is,  however,  enough  for  us  to  know  that  Chris- 
tian prayer  is  the  greatest  power  in  the  universe, 
save  God  hiinself  It  secures  favors,  not  only  to 
the  petitioner,  but  to  those  for  whom  he  prays. 
This  is  a  most  blessed  feature  of  the  Christian 
religion;  for  it  matters  not,  so  far  as  the  efficacy 
of  the  service  is  concerned,  whether  the  petitioner 
asks  for  himself  or  for  another — whether  it  is  the 
Psalmist  praying  "Lord,  help  me;"  or  the  devout 
Cornelius  asking  God  to  send  a  distant  Apostle 
to  break  to  the  people  of  Cesarea  the  bread  of 
life. 

Knowing  the  efficacy  of  praj^er,  it  was  an  estab- 
lished custom  of  Paul  to  ask  his  Christian  breth- 
ren to  pray  for  him  and  for  his  co-laborers. 
"  Brethren,  pray  for  us."  (1  Thess.  v.  25.) 
Finally,  brethren,  pray  for  us,  that  the  word  of 
the  Lord  maj^  have  free  course,  and  be  glorified." 
(2  Thess.  iii.  1.)  "Praying  always  with  all 
prayer  and  supplication  in  the  Spirit,  and  watch- 
ing thereunto  with  all  perseverance  and  supplica- 
tion for  all  saints;  and  for  me,  that  utterance  may 
be  given  unto  me,  that  1  may  open  my  mouth 
boldly,"  etc.  •  (Eph.  vi.  18, 19.)  Now,  if  the  great 
Apostle  of  the  Gentiles,  with  his  learning  and 
with  his  inspiration,  felt  the  necessity  of  prayer 
in  his  behalf  and  in  behalf  of  those  associated 
with  him,  how  much  more  needful  is  it  that  the 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  213 

ministry  of  this  day  should  have  the  prayers  of 
those  tj  whom  they  preach? 

The  relation  which  exists  between  minister  and 
people  enforces  this  duty.  He  is  under  obliga- 
tions to  do  them  good  by  preaching  the  gospel, 
and  by  his  intercessions  and  prayers  in  their  be- 
halft  They  are  bound  to  hear,  and  to  endeavor, 
in  every  possible  way,  to  derive  profit  from  all  his 
ministrations.  The  duties  gl^owing  out  of  this 
relation  are  mutual.  He  prays  for  them,  and 
they  should  pray  for  him.  The  most  i:)rofitable 
sermons  are  those  in  Avhich  the  people  are  inter- 
ested ;  but  how  can  they  be  interested  if  they  do 
not  pray  for  him  who  dispenses  to  them  the  bread 
of  life?  The  prayers  oflered  on  the  day  of 
Pentecost  gave  point  and  power  to  the  sermon 
preached  by  Peter,  which  resulted  in  the  conver- 
sion of  three  thousand  souls. 

In  the  next  place,  the  peculiar  trials  to  which 
ministers  are  subjected  bespeak  for  them  an. 
interest  in  the  prayers  of  their  people.  'No  class 
of  men  on  earth  have  greater  difficulties  to  meet, 
severer  trials  to  encounter,  and  deeper  discour- 
agements to  depress.  They  have  every  sort  of 
taste  to  please,  every  kind  of  objection  to  meet, 
and  every  shade  of  prejudice  to  overcome.  If 
faithful  to  their  Master,  they  will  often  gain  the 
ill-will,  not  only  of  many  ''that  are  Avithout,"  but, 
likewise,  many  that  are  of  "  their  own  house- 
hold." An  important  part  of  their  duty  is  to 
"reprove  and   rebuke."      They  dare   not,   at  all 


214  PULriT    AND    TEW. 

times,  "  prophesy  smooth  things."  If  iniquity 
abounds,  they  "  must  cry  aloud  and  spare  not." 
If  Avorldlin-ess  comes  in  like  a  flood,  they  must 
breast  the  current.  If  any  backslide,  they  must 
''testify"  against  them.  By  doing  these  things 
the}^  awaken  enmity  and  opposition.  Their  mo- 
tives are  misconstrued,  and  their  actions  severely 
criticised.  No  wonder,  then,  that  they  often  cry 
out  in  the  language  of  Paul,  "Who  is  sufficient 
for  these  things?"  But,  under  these  circum- 
stances, how  like  blessed  balm  to  their  care-worn 
hearts  are  the  j^rayers  of  the  people  of  God ! 

Furthermore,  the  spiritual  w^elfare  of  the  mem- 
bership demands  a  compliance  with  this  duty. 
It  is  not  likely  that  the  services  of  a  minister,  no 
difference  what  his  ta^^^nts  or  acquirements  may 
be,  will  be  profitable  to  a  prayerless  membership. 
lie  may  "  speak  with  the  tongues  of  men  and  of 
angels,"  but  if  his  people  have  not,  by  earnest 
prayer,  prepared  their  hearts  to  receive  his  mes- 
sage, his  services  will  be  to  them  "  as  sounding 
brass,  or  a  tinkling  cymbal."  Let  it  be  remem- 
bered— yea,  let  it  be  written  upon  the  tablet  of 
every  heart,  never  to  be  forgotten  or  obliterated — 
that  no  people  can  have  a  good  and  successful 
minister  unless  they  pray  for  him.  A  member- 
ship that  does  not  pray  for  its  minister,  is  invaria- 
bly a  fault-finding  people.  The  truth  is,  the 
membership,  to  a  great  extent,  holds  in  its  own 
hands  the  success  or  failure  of  its  minister — he 
being  the  clay,  and  they  the  potter.     Bearing  this 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  215 

thought  in  mind,  we  can  understand  why  it  is 
that  some  Churches  never  have  a  minister  that 
suits  them,  and  others  never  have  one  that  does 
not  do  them  good  and  build  them  up.  The  former 
can  take  the  best  minister  in  the  denomination 
to  which  they  belong,  and,  in  a  short  time,  denude 
him  of  his  power;  the  latter  can  take  even  an 
ordinary  one,  and,  in  less  than  one  year,  make 
him  a  "son  of  thunder." 

The  principal  consideration,  however,  by  which 
this  duty  is  enforced,  is  the  success  of  the  gos- 
pel— "  that  the  word  of  the  Lord  may  have  free 
course  and  be  glorified."  The  most  efficient  min- 
isters are  but  "earthen  vessels."  "Neither  he 
that  plants  nor  he  that  waters  is  any  thing."  If 
any  fruit  aj^pears,  it  is  "  God  that  giveth  the 
increase."  If  souls  are  to  be  converted,  if  the 
Church  is  to  be  revived,  it  is  when  the  "  Spirit  is 
poured  out  from  on  high,"  through  the  "power 
and  demonstration  of  the  Holy  Ghost."  Sinners 
are  awakened,  "  not  by  might,  nor  by  power,  but 
by  the  Spirit  of  God."  And  that  blessed  Agent 
does  not  come  unsought.  His  saving  influences 
are  shed  abroad  only  in  answer  to  prayer — the 
fervent,  effectual  j)rayer  of  faith.  This  prayer 
of  faith,  however,  dej^ends  upon  the  state  of  the 
Church.  But  how  miserable  must  be  the  state 
of  that  Church  in  which  no  prayer  is  offered  for 
the  minister !  How  can  the  gospel  have  "  free 
couTse  "  in  such  an  organization?  The  truth  w^ll 
freeze  as  soon  as  it  touches  the  cold  heart  of  such 


216  rULPlT   AND    TEW. 

a  Cliurcb,  and  will  fall  powerless  at  the  feet  of 
sinners.  As  to  any  immediate  results,  the  minis- 
ter might  as  well  i^reach  to  the  icebergs  of  the 
Arctic  ocean.  The  membership,  then,  cannot  too 
often,  nor  too  fervently,  pray  for  its  minister.  It 
should  pray  for  him  through  the  week,  while  he 
is  preparing  for  the  Sabbath,  that  his  mouth  may 
be  tilled  with  arguments,  and  that  the  very  ser- 
mon which  he  is  preparing  may  be  owned  and 
blessed  of  God.  Nor  should  prayer  then  cease ; 
l)ecause  he  should  be  remembered  even  when  he 
is  in  the  pulpit  delivering  his  message.  It  was 
only  when  the  hands  of  Moses  were  held  up  by 
Aaron  and  Hur  that  Israel  prevailed.  Indeed, 
the  success  of  the  gospel  is  as  really  promoted  by 
fervent  prayer  as  by  faithful  preaching.  There 
must  be  preaching,  for  so  hath  the  Lord  ordained. 
There  must  also  be  prayer,  for  this,  too,  is  accord- 
ing to  his  appointment.  All  cannot  preach  ;  but 
all  can  pray,  and  thus  promote  the  success  of  the 
gospel  as  really,  if  not  to  the  same  extent,  as  if 
they  were  preachers.  There  is  in  a  certain  book 
the  following  legend:  "A  preacher,  whose  ser- 
mons were  instrumental  in  the  conversion  of  men 
by  scores,  received  a  revelation  from  Heaven  that 
not  one  of  the  conversions  was  owing  to  his  tal- 
ents or  eloquence,  but  all  to  the  prayers  of  an 
illiterate  layman,  who  sat  on  the  pulpit  steps, 
pleading  all  the  time  for  the  success  of  the  ser- 
mon." Let,  then,  all  the  members  of  the  Church 
intercede  with  God  in  buhall"  ol'  him  who  ])ring8 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  217 

to  them  the  message  of  salvation.  By  so  doing, 
they  become,  so  to  speak,  j^artners  in  his  hibors — 
heirs  with  him  in  tlie  grand  spiritual  estate  which 
he  has  accumulated.  If  this  duty  were  constantly 
and  faithfully  performed,  there  would  be  but  few 
dissatisfied  Churches,  but  few  inefficient  ministers, 
and  but  few  unconverted  adults  in  the  bounds  of 
such  congregations.  What  a  power  would  such 
a  course  make  the  minister  in  every  household ! 
How  could  children  fail  to  love  and  respect  a 
minister  for  whom  they  heard  prayer  offered 
around  the  family  altar? 

As  to  the  necessity  of  co-operation  with  the 
minister  in  Church-work,  but  little  need  be  said; 
for  the  importance  of  the  duty  is  apj^arent  to 
every  reflecting  mind.  Every  organization, 
whether  secular  or  spiritual,  must  have  a  head — 
a  leader.  This  is  indispensable,  not  only  to  the 
existence,  but  to  the  efficiency,  of  the  organiza- 
tion. Every  well-organized  firm  has  its  "  office 
man" — the  man  who  takes  the  general  super- 
vision of  the  business,  and  wdio,  to  a  great  extent, 
dictates  the  policy  and  directs  the  movements  of 
the  whole  establishment.  By  virtue  of  his  posi- 
tion, too,  he  knows  more  about  the  affairs  of  the 
firm  than  any  one  else.  The  same  is  true  in 
regard  to  the  Church.  And,  by  God's  own  ap- 
pointment, the  minister  is,  so  to  speak,  the  "  office 
man  " — the  leader — of  the  Church  which  he 
serves.  He  knows  more  about  the  organization 
than  any  one  else — knows  better  than  any  one 


2V6  rULPIT    AND    I'EW. 

what  it  needs,  for  it  is  bis  biisiness  to  know.  For 
this  reason,  he  is  better  prepared  than  any  one 
else  to  indicate  the  policy — the  plan  of  work — 
which  should  be  pursued.  The  membership, 
therefore,  should  defer  to  him ;  and,  unless  his 
plans  can  be  shown  to  be  defective,  they  should 
"fall  into  line,"  and  heartily  co-operate  with  him. 
Lamentable  to  say,  however,  there  are  some  mem- 
bers who  are  so  self-willed  and  stubborn,  that 
they  utterly  refuse  to  adopt  any  line  of  policy 
which  their  minister  suggests.  Such  members 
arc  a  torment— yea,  -a  serious  injury — to  the  or- 
ganization to  which  the}^  belong.  They  are  the 
irregular  stones  that  fit  nowhere  in  the  spiritual 
edifice ;  and  no  amount  of  hammering,  squaring, 
or  polishing  will  put  them  in  shape.  In  reference 
to  this  class  of  Church -members,  the  prayer  of  all 
of  God's  faithful  ministers  should  be,  "  From  all 
such,  good  Lord,  deliver  us." 

11.  They  must  cultivate  household  jnetij— family 
religion. 

Our  Heavenly  Father  intended  much  by  estab- 
lisliing  the  family  relation — by  making  parents 
chiefly  resj^onsible  for  the  proper  training  of  their 
children ;  for,  by  so  doing,  he  made  i^-ovision  for 
the  intellectual,  moral,  and  religious  culture  of 
the  entire  human  race.  The  obligation  imposed 
is  of  a  serious  and  solemn  character,  and  it  can 
be  neither  ignored  nor  transferred.  God  holds 
parents  personally  responsible;  hence,  there  can 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  219 

be  no  substitution  in  the  case,  as  long  as  the  rela- 
tion exists.  He  has  committed  the  trust  prima- 
rily to  those  who  are  responsible,  by  Divine 
favor,  for  the  existence  of  children.  It  is  right, 
too,  that  it  should  be  so;  for  parents  are,  of  all 
others,  the  most  closely  and  the  most  tenderly 
allied  to  them.  No  others  can  feel  the  love,  the 
interest,  and  the  solicitude  for  them  which  their 
own  parents  feel.  God  has  so  ordained  it — has  so 
constituted  the  relation  between  parents  and 
children,  that  their  own  happiness,  the  well-being 
of  society,  and  the  best  interests  of  his  kingdom, 
sliall  all  be  most  efficiently  promoted  by  observ- 
ing this  primordial  law.  He  has  fixed  the  re- 
sponsibility; and  none  can  remove  it.  The 
family  is  the  first,  the  primary,  school  in  which 
infantile  minds  and  hearts  are  to  be  developed. 
It  is  Nature's  nursery ;  it  is  the  Church's  nursery ; 
it  is  God's  nursery.  How  momentous  the  trust 
committed  to  the  hands  of  parents!  These  dear 
children  have  been  given  to  them  by  God  that 
the}'  may  be  trained  up  for  him — for  heaven. 
Whatever  is  done  to  them,  is  done  for  him,  or 
against  him,  as  it  may  be  good  or  bad,  as  it  tends 
to  save  or  destroy  the  soul  for  ever. 

Family  religion,  including  i)rayer,  pious  in- 
struction, godly  example,  and  parental  restraint, 
cannot  be  overestimated.  God  has  set  his  seal 
of  approbation  upon  it  throughout  the  Scriptures. 
Of  Abraham  he  said,  "I  know  him,  that  he  will 
command  his  children  and    his   household  after 


220  rULPIT    AND    PEW. 

him,  and  thej  shall  keep  tbe  way  of  the  Lord,  to 
do  justice  and  judgment;  that  the  Lord  may 
bring  uj^on  Abraham  that  Avhich  he  hath  spoken 
of  him."  (Gen.  xviii.  19.)  Here  Abraham  is 
commended  for  instructing  his  children  and  his 
household  in  the  most  important  of  all  duties, 
''  the  way  of  the  Lord" — the  great  doctrines  of  re- 
ligion; and  "justice  and  judgment" — the  great 
duties  of  religion.  It  is  also  said,  "  He  will  com- 
mand them";  that  is,  he  will  use  that  just 
authority  Avhich  God  gives  the  father  and  head  of 
a  family  in  the  religious  instruction  of  his  chil- 
dren. Abraham  also  prayed  with  and  instructed 
his  family.  Wherever  he  fixed  his  tent,  there  he 
built  an  altar  to  the  Lord.  This  he  did  in  the 
plain  of  Moreh.  And  when  he  removed  to  the 
mountain,  "  on  the  east  of  Bethel,  there  he  builded 
an  altar  unto  the  Lord,  and  called  upon  the  name 
of  the  Lord."     (Gen.  xii.  7,  8.) 

The  Bible  furnishes  many  other  examples  of 
holy  men,  similar  to  that  of  Abraham.  Joshua 
said,  "Choose  you  this  day  whom  ye  will  serve; 
whether  the  gods  which  your  fathers  served 
that  were  on  the  other  side  of  the  flood,  or  the 
gods  of  the  Amorites,  in  whose  land  ye  dwell: 
but  as  for  me  and  my  house,  we  will  servo  the 
Lord.  (Josh.  xxiv.  15.)  From  this  declaration 
we  see  that  neither  the  exalted  station  which  he 
occupied,  nor  his  various  and  pressing  public 
duties,  prevented  him  from  giving  special  atten- 
tion   to    household    religion.     When    David    had 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  221 

brought  the  ark  of  God  to  the  city  of  Jerusalem 
with  joy,  sacrifices,  aiul  thanksgiving,  after  dis- 
charging his  official  duties,  and  blessing  the 
people  in  the  name  of  the  Lord,  he  "returned  to 
bless  his  household."  (2  Sam.  vi.  20.)  The  same 
fidelity  is  observable  in  the  examples  of  Job,  and 
others.  (See  Job.  i.  5;  Dan.  vi.  10.)  As  long- 
as  the  ark  rested  in  the  house  of  Obed-edom, 
God's  blessings  came  upon  him  and  his  household. 
Of  Cornelius  it  was  said,  "He  was  a  devout  man, 
and  one  that  feared  God  with  all  his  house,  which 
gave  much  alms  to  the  people,  and  prayed  to  God 
alway."  (Acts  x.  2.)  The  early  Christians,  also, 
practiced  this  duty.  Paul  greets  the  Church  that 
was  in  the  house  of  Priscilla  and  Aquila,  when 
they  were  in  Rome;  and  he  sends  the  salutation 
of  the  Church  which  was  in  their  house  when 
they  were  in  Asia.  (See  Eom.  xvi.  3;  1  Cor, 
xvi.  19.) 

On  the  other  hand,  God  has  expressed  his  utter 
disapprobation  of  the  course  of  those  who  neglect 
the  Christian  parental  training  upon  which  we 
are  insisting.  Eli  was  unfaithful  in  this  duty — 
failed  to  restrain  his  wicked  sons;  and  because  of 
this  fact,  God  said,  "Behold,  I  will  do  a  thing  in 
Israel,  atwhicli  both  the  ears  of  every  one  that  hear- 
eth  it  shall  tingle.  In  that  day  I  will  perform  against 
Eli  all  things  which  I  have  spoken  concerning 
his  house:  when  I  begin,  I  will  also  make  an  end. 
For  I  have  told  him  that  I  will  judge  his  house 
forever  for  the  iniquity  which  he  knoweth;  be- 


222  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

cause  his  sons  made  themselves  vile,  and  he  re- 
strained them  not.  And  therefore  I  have  s\^orn 
unto  the  house  of  Eli,  that  the  iniquity  of  Eli's 
house  shall  not  be  purged  with  sacrifice  nor  offer- 
ing forever."  (1  Sam.  iii.  11-14.)  The  sequel 
illustrated  the  severity  of  this  curse.  "Tlie 
Philistines  fought,  and  Israel  was  smitten;  the 
ark  of  God  was  taken;  and  the  two  sons  of  Eli, 
Hophni  and  Phinchas,  were  slain."  Hearing  such 
dreadful  tidings,  Eli  "  fell  from  off  the  seat  back- 
ward by  the  side  of  the  gate,  and  his  neck  brake, 
and  he  died."     (1  Sam.  iv.  10,  11,  18.) 

Says  the  Prophet  Jeremiah,  "  Pour  out  thy  fury 
upon  the  heathen  that  know  thee  not,  and  upon 
the  families  that  call  not  on  thy  name."  (Jer. 
X.  25.)  Now,  if  the  heathen  and  their  families  are 
to  be  thus  punished,  what  must  be  the  doom  of 
professed  Christian  families  who  fail  to  worship 
God  in  their  households? 

Family  worship  has  many  peculiar  advantages. 
Children  are  imitative  creatures.  They  are  es- 
pecially inclined  to  copy  after  their  parents. 
And  surely  parents  could  not  confer  a  greater 
blessing  upon  their  children,  both  for  time  and 
eternity,  than  b}^  teaching  them  to  worship 
around  the  family  altar.  David  says  of  God, 
"He  established  a  testimonj-  in  Jacob,  and 
appointed  a  law  in  Israel,  which  he  com- 
manded our  fathers,  that  they  should  make 
them  known  to  their  children;  that  the  gene- 
ration to  come  might  know  them,  even  the  chil- 


PULPIT    AND    PEAV.  223 

dren  which  should  be  born  ;  who  should  arise  and 
declare  them  to  their  children ;  that  they  might 
set  their  hope  in  God,  and  not  forget  the  works 
of  God,  but  keep  his  commandments."  (Ps. 
Ixxviii.  5-7.)  The  meaning  of  the  scriptures  just 
quoted  is,  that  ftimily  religion  is  one  of  the  most 
important  means  of  propagating  piety  to  ])0h- 
terity.  In  other  words,  if  Christian  parents  will 
train  up  their  children  in  the  nurture  and  ad- 
monition of  the  Lord,  the  strong  probability — 
yea,  the  certainty — is  that  these  same  children  will 
train  up  theirs  in  the  same  manner,  and  their 
piety  will,  through  the  blessing  of  God,  whose 
merc}"  is  u^^on  those  who  fear  him  unto  a  thou- 
sand generations,  be  continued  from  age  to  age. 
The  manner  in  which  parents  educate  their  chil- 
dren will  give  general  tone  and  character  to 
future  ages,  and  be  the  means  of  transmitting 
holiness  and  happiness,  or  pollution  and  misery, 
to  unborn  generations.  How  great,  then,  is  the 
sin  of  neglecting  family  religion !  It  is  sinning 
against  the  express  commands  of  God,  against  all 
his  goodness  and  mercy  in  giving  families  and 
preserving  them.  By  so  doing,  parents  sin  against 
themselves,  against  the  children  which  God  has 
graciously  given  them,  against  the  Church  and 
the  commonwealth,  and  against  the  ages  yet  to 
be  born. 

The  great  Cecil  says  of  family  worship,  "It  is 
an  engine  of  vast  power.  It  diffuses  a  sympathy 
through  the  household.     It  calls  off  the  mind  from 


224  ^      PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

the  deadening  effects  of  worldly  affairs.  It  ar- 
rests every  member  with  a  morning  and  evening 
sermon  in  the  midst  of  all  the  hurries  and  cares 
of  life.  It  eays,  'There  is  a  God!'  'There  is  a 
spiritual  world ! '  'There  is  a  life  to  eome!'  It 
fixes  the  idea  of  responsibility  in  the  mind.  It 
furnishes  a  tender  and  judicious  father  with*  an 
opportunity  of  gently  referring  to  faults,  where  a 
direct  and  severe  admonition  might  be  inexpe- 
dient." Archbishop  Tillotson  says  of  family 
worship,  "Where  it  is  neglected,  I  do  not  see  how 
any  family  can  in  reason  be  esteemed  a  family 
of  Christians,  or,  indeed,  to  have  any  religion 
at  all." 

Matthew  Hemy  said,  "A  family  without  an 
altar  is  like  a  house  without  a  roof — has  no  pro- 
tection from  the  elements  without." 

Many  parents,  it  is  true,  attempt  to  render  ex- 
cuses for  the  non-performance  of  this  duty;  and 
they  do  frame  apologies  which  seem  to  satisfy 
themselves.  But  with  the  plain  teachings  of  the 
Bible  upon  this  subject,  it  would  be  a  most  diffi- 
cult matter  to  find  an  excuse  that  God  would  re- 
ceive. Indeed,  no  other  religious  service  can  take 
its  place,  and  if  it  is  neglected  a  loss  is  sustained 
for  which  there  is  no  complete  substitute.  Read- 
ing the  Scriptures  in  the  home  circle,  and  prayer 
at  the  family  altar,  make  a  deeper  and  more  last- 
ing impression  upon  children  than  the  same 
services  performed  elsewhere;  for  they  know  that 
theii-  parents  do  not  do  these  things  "to  be  seen 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  225 

of  men,"  but  because  the}'  recognize  the  fact  that 
they  need  and  must  have  God's  blessings  upon 
themselves  and  upon  their  children.  Then,  let 
not  this  duty  be  neglected;  for  it  is  one  of  the 
most  solemn  and  impressive  of  all  means  of  in- 
struction. In  it,  parents,  in  the  presence  of  their 
children,  acknowledge  the  being,  perfections,  and 
dominion  of  God.  They  confess  their  sins,  and 
ask  for  pardon  in  the  name  of  Christ.  They  ac- 
knowledge the  mercies  of  God,  their  dependence 
upon  him,  and  recognize  the  doctrines  and  duties 
of  our  holy  religion.  How,  then,  is  it  possible  to 
teach  so  many,  and  such  momentous  things,  in 
any  other  way,  so  solemnly,  and  to  such  advan- 
tage? What  else  is  so  well  calculated  to  fix  in 
the  minds  of  children  a  sense  of  the  reality  and 
importance  of  religion?  What  can  so  convince 
them  of  the  concern  which  parents  feel  for  them? 
J^othing — absolutely  nothing. 

12.  They  must  engage  in  Sabbath- school  ivork — 
7nust  labor  for  the  conversion  of  the  young. 

To  the  thoughtful  Bible-reader,  it  is  a  matter 
of  profound  astonishment  that  the  Sabbath- 
school — the  school  for  studying  the  Sacred  Script- 
ures— is  quite  recent  in  its  origin.  We  have  to 
look  back  only  about  a  century  to  find  the  "  time 
and  place  "  when  this  "  institution  "  was  first  in- 
augurated. Yet,  in  tbe  days  of  Moses,  we  have 
this  language:  "And  these  words,  which  I  com- 
mand thee  this  day,  shall  be  in  thine  heart;  and 
15 


226  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

thou  slialt  teach  them  diligently  unto  thy  chil- 
dren, and  shalt  talk  of  them  when  thou  sittest 
in  thine  house,  and  when  thou  walkest  by  the 
way,  and  when  thou  Host  down,  and  when  thou 
risest  up."  (Deut.  vi.  6,  7.)  In  the  writings  of 
Solomon  we  have  this  command:  "Train  up  a 
child  in  the  way  he  should  go ;  and  when  he  is 
old,  he  will  not  depai't  from  it."  (Prov.  xxii.  G.) 
The  blessed  Saviour  not  only  said,  "  Suffer  the 
little  children  to  come  unto  me,  and  forbid  them 
not;"  but  he,  likewise,  in  his  last  interview  wil:h 
his  disciples,  said,  "Feed  my  lambs."  (Mark  x. 
14;  John  xxi.  15.)  With  these  and  similar 
scriptures  before  us,  the  idea  is  repeated  that  it 
is  a  matter  of  astonishment  that  schools  for  teach- 
inir  the  Bible  to  children  are  of  such  recent 
origin. 

But,  young  as  the  institution  is,  it  has  grown 
into  vast  proportions — has  spread  throughout  the 
Protestant  world;  and  has  taken  a  most  promi- 
nent position  among  human  and  Divine  agencies 
for  the  salvation  of  the  youth.  It  has  not  only 
enlisted  the  most  active  and  vigorous  workers 
of  Christendom  ;  but  it  has  laid  its  young,  strong, 
giant  hand  upon  one  of  the  most  potent  of 
earthly  instrumentalities — the  printing  press — 
and  demands,  perhaps,  a  larger  issue  than  any 
other  cause  in  the  world.  And  as  these  schools 
now  exist  almost  everywhere;  and  as  they  are 
now  by  many  considered  as  occupying  a  position 
second  only  to  the  preaching  of  the  gospel,  we 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  227 

pro-pose  to  assign  some  reasons  why  Christians 
should  give  to  them  their  hearty  support. 

(a)  One  important  reason  for  cordial  co-opera- 
tion is,  these  schools  aiford  employment  for  all 
Christians.  Before  they  were  organized,  there 
was  work  for  only  a  small  number — the  minister 
and  a  few  official  members,  while  the  great  body 
of  the  membership  was  standing  "all  the  day 
idle."  No  doubt,  too,  that  this  is  one  reason  why 
Christianity  has  made  such  slow  progress  in  sub- 
jugating the  "  kingdoms  of  this  world  "  to  "  God 
and  to  his  Christ."  The  fault  lay  not  in  the 
paucity,  but  in  the  inefficiency — the  want  of 
drill — of  the  members.  JSTo  difterence  how  earnest 
and  energetic  the  officers  of  a  temporal  army  may 
be,  yet  they  can  accomplish  biit  little  without  the 
assistance  of  the  common  soldiery.  It  is  just  so 
with  the  "grand  army  of  Christ" — the  common 
soldiery  in  it,  as  well  as  its  ^officers,  must  be 
drilled  and  put  into  active  service.  Sabbath- 
schools  atford  this  desideratum.  In  them  there  is 
■  work  for  all — for  old  and  young,  either  in  the 
capacity  of  teacher  or  pupil.  And  with  such  an 
opportunity  to  work,  not  a  single  member  of  the 
Church  need  to  be  idle. 

(If)  Furthermore,  these  schools  are  a  sovereign 
remedy  against  infidelity.  In  them  the  Bible  is 
studied — is  or  should  be  the  text-book  or  basis 
of  every  thing  that  is  taught.  Now  no  one  can 
understand  the  truths  of  science  and  yet  disbe- 
lieve them.      The  doubting  ones  in  science  are 


228  riiLriT  and  tew. 

*those  who  arc  ignorant — those  who  do  not  under- 
stand its  truths— those  who  have  not  been  prop- 
erly instructed.  The  same  is  true  in  reference 
to  the  Bible — the  infidels,  the  disbelievers,  are 
those  who  do  not  understand  it.  God  is  the 
author  of  science;  he  is  also  the  author  of  the 
Bible.  It  is,  therefore,  just  as  impossible  to  un- 
derstand the  latter  without  believing  it  as  it  is  to 
understand  the  former  without  embracing  its 
truths.  The  cause,  then,  for  theoretical  infidelity 
in  religion,  is  ignorance.  Not  a  single  infidel, 
whose  writings  have  cursed  the  world,  ever  even 
professed  to  have  read  and  studied  the  Bible  Avith 
care.  Indeed,  so  far  as  we  kuow^,  they  all  ac- 
knowledged that  they  had  never  read  it  as  a 
whole — simply  read  it  in  detached  portions — read 
it,  not  with  a  desire  to  understand  it,  but  to  dis- 
parage and  caricature  it — read  it  as  a  soldier 
would  examine  the  fortification  of  an  enemy, 
looking  not  for  strong  but  for  loeak  points.  \\\ 
then,  we  would  rid  society  of  one  of  the  most 
terrible  of  all  curses — infidelity — there  is  but  one 
remedy:  teach  the  Bible  to  the  young — to  those 
from  whom  the  "rank  and  file"  of  infidelity 
come.  Sabbath-schools  afford  the  means  of  doing 
that  work. 

(c)  Again,  they  beget  a  respect  and  reverence 
for  the  Sabbath.  One  of  the  strong  pillars  of 
Christianit}'-  is  this  sacred  day — the  day  which 
all  the  human  family  are  required  to  k«  ep  holy. 
If  the  Sabbath  is  disregarded,  the  sanctuaryand 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  229 

all  other  moral  influences  will,  to  a  great  extent, 
be  neglected  and  despised.  The  truth  of  this 
assertion  no  one  will  call  in  question.  Just  in 
proportion  as  this  day  is  disregarded,  will  the 
knowledge  and  worship  of  God  escape  from  the 
mind,  the  moral  sense  of  the  community  be  im- 
paired, its  powers  decay,  its  foundations  fail,  and 
its  pillars  totter  and  fall.  But  the  direct  tend- 
ency of  Sabbath-schools  is  to  arrest  such  a  direful 
calamity.  They  gather  those  who  would  other- 
wise be  loitering  about  the  streets,  wandering  in 
the  fields,  or  reveling  in  dissipation;  and  they 
impress  the  minds  and  hearts  of  all  whom  they 
thus  assemble  with  proper  respect  for  God's 
sacred  day.  ISTow,  when  we  remember  that  nine- 
tentlis  of  our  worst  criminals  charge  to  Sabbath 
desecration  the  first  fatal  step  in  their  mad  career, 
Ave  can  form  some  idea  of  the  absolute  importance 
of  an  institution  which  eff^^ectually  checkmates 
the  direful  evil. 

(d)  These  schools,  too,  operate  upon  the  most 
impressible  and  most  important  element  of  so- 
ciety— the  youth.  The  mind  of  a  child  may  bo 
fitly  compared  to  the  delicate  plate  of  the  photo- 
graph artist ;  for  it  receives  an  impression  from 
whatever  object  is  placed  before  it.  As  the  pho- 
tographer has  power  to  make  either  a  beautiful 
or  hideous  picture,  by  his  own  selection,  so  the 
Christian  artist  may,  by  his  own  efforts,  make 
either  a  lovely  or  frightful  image  upon  that 
equally    delicate    plate — the    human    mind.      In 


230  PULriT    AND    PEW. 

youth,  the  memory  is  retentive,  the  heart  is 
tender,  conscience  is  faithful,  and  prejudices  are 
few  and  feeble.  Imj^ressions  are  then  easily 
made;  and  the  principles  then  inculcated  con- 
tinue through  life  to  be  the  moat  permanent  and 
powerful.  Habit,  too,  is  daily  increasing  its  in- 
fluences for  good  or  for  evil — riveting  the  shackles 
of  sin,  or  strengthening  the  golden  chain  which 
binds  the  heart  to  God.  What  infinite  wisdom, 
then,  do  we  see  in  the  command,  "  Train  up  a 
child  in  the  way  he  should  go;  and  when  he  is 
old,  he  will  not  depart  from  it."  There  is  in  the 
life  of  every  child,  reared  in  a  Christian  land,  a 
period— yea,  a  moment — when  a  word,  a  tear,  a 
praj^er,  may  induce  it  to  accept  Christ;  and  the 
institution  in  behalf  of  w^hich  we  are  pleading 
gives  a  chance  to  improve  that  awfully  moment- 
ous period. 

(e)  It  is  likewise  a  fact,  which  no  reflecting  man 
will  controvert,  that  those  who  are  tluis  trained 
in  early  life  make  the  best  Christians.  Persons 
who  have  lived  thirty,  forty,  fifty  years  in  sin, 
find  it  exceedingly  difficult,  even  after  a  profes- 
sion of  religion  has  been  made,  to  walk  circum- 
spectly before  the  Church  and  the  world.  Tliey 
have  lived  so  long  in  rebellion  against  God,  that 
the  faculties  of  mind  and  heart  have  been 
blunted;  and  there  is  Avith  them  a  constant  war- 
fare— "the  flesh  lusteth  against  the  Spirit,  and 
the  Spirit  against  the  flesh."  (Gal.  v.  17.)  Not 
so  with  those  who,  like  Samuel,  have  grown  up 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  231 

around  the  altar.  To  them  the  "yoke  is  easy 
and  the  burden  is  light,"  because  they  began  to 
bear  them  in  early  life.  These,  too,  as  a  general 
rule,  are  the  pillars  of  the  Church.  They  are  not 
only  the  best  exponents  of  Christian  deportment, 
but  of  Christian  doing.  They  are  the  "body- 
guard" of  the  minister — the  "reserve  force" 
upon  which  he  can  rely  in  any  emergency. 
Those  not  thus  drilled,  like  raw  militia,  may  be 
willing  to  fight  for  their  cause,  but  really  they  do 
not  know  how  to  handle  the  weapons  placed  in 
their  hands;  and  like  them,  too,  they  are  liable 
to  give  way,  if  the  conflict  is  pretty  severe. 

(/)  As  a  final  reason,  we  assert  that  these 
schools  afford  to  many  all  the  religious  instruc- 
tion which  the}'  receive.  There  are  thousands 
upon  thousands — yea,  millions — of  children  who 
receive  no  Christian  culture  at  home ;  and  were 
it  not  for  Sabbath-schools  these  children  would, 
to  all  intents  and  purposes,  be  heathens,  in  a 
moral  and  religious  sense.  Indeed,  it  was  to 
reach  just  such  that  the  institution  was  first 
established  by  Eobert  Eaikes.  These  schools, 
then,  reach  out  their  tender,  loving  arms,  and 
embrace  that  large  class  of  our  youth  who,  with- 
out their  agency,  would  be  destitute  of  religious 
training;  and  they  make  those  deep,  lasting  im- 
pressions at  the  very  period  of  life  when  there  is 
most  liopc.  Nor  has  it  escaped  the  observation 
of  any  tlioughtful  Christian  that  many  of  these 
moral   waifs,  thus  brought  into  the  fold,  make — 


232  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

often  make — our  most  efficient  laymen  and  our 
most  renowned  ministers  of  the  gospel.  The  his- 
tory of  Christendom  abounds  with  such  instances. 
Other  reasons,  and  good  ones,  too,  could  be 
assigned  to  induce  Christians  to  engage  heartily 
in  Sabbath-school  work,  but  want  of 'pace  for- 
bids. Suffice  it  to  say,  the  institution  has  God's 
benedictions- -has  been  owned  and  blessed  of 
him  as  one  of  the  most  powerful  agencies  known 
to  the  Church  for  the  upbuilding  of  his  cause. 
Like  the  gospel,  its  "field  is  the  world."  All 
classes,  all  conditions,  are  alike  the  objects  of  its 
kind  and  compreliensivc  benevolence.  Pupils, 
teachers,  parents,  and  friends  share  its  benefits. 
None  aje  so  high  as  to  be  above  its  favors;  none 
so  low  as  to  be  beneath  its  notice.  No  Christian, 
then,  can  afford  to  stand  aloof,  or  even  be  indiffer- 
ent. With  mind  and  heart  he  must  enter  the 
service;  nor  must  he  quit  until  the  Master  dis- 
charges him.  No  member  of  the  Church  knows 
ao  much  or  so  little  as  that  he  may  be  excused 
from  this  service.  The  truth  is,  it  should  be  a 
service  in  which  all  the  membership  should  be 
interested.  In  other  words,  a  Sabbath-school  in 
any  congregation,  should  be  that  whole  congre- 
gation studying  the  word  of  God;  for  all,  with- 
out exception,  need  the  benefits  which  this  insti- 
tution bestows.  Let  it  be  remembered,  too,  that 
it  is  not  an  institution  separate  and  distinct  from 
the  Church — is  simply  the  Church  putting  forth 
its   energy  in   one   department  of  its  legitimate 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  233 

^voi-k — is  the  Church  itself  in  that  department. 
Any  other  theory  in  relation  to  this  institution 
is  not  only  erroneous  but  prolific  of  evil.  The 
Church  is  undei*  the  most  solemn  obligation  to 
see  to  it  that  the  children  committed  to  its  care 
shall  be  trained  up  "in  the  nurture  and  admo- 
nition of  the  Lord,"  and  it  is  simply  impossible, 
without  committing  a  great  sin,  to  delegate  this 
Avork,  or  authorit}^,  or  responsibilit}^,  to  an^^ 
agency  outside  of  itself  To  the  minister,  then, 
and  to  his  official  members,  this  great  trust  is 
committed,  and  they  cannot,  tbey  inust  not,  allow 
it  to  pass  into  the  control  of  others. 

As  an  incentive  to  earnest  and  vigorous  effort 
on  the  part  of  the  Church  in  this  particular  de- 
partment, the  following  tabular  exhibit  is  made. 
It  is  copied  from  the  late  Dr.  Spencer.  He  says : 
"  I  once  made  an  actual  examination  of  this  sort, 
in  respect  to  two  hundred  and  fifty-three  hopeful 
converts  to  Christ,  w^ho  came  under  my  observa- 
tion at  a  particular^  period.  Of  these  there  were 
converted : 

Under  20  years  of  age 138 

Between  20  and  30  years  of  age  ...  85 
"  30  "  40  "  "  ...  22 
"  40  "  50  "  "  ...  4 
"  50    "    60      "         "        ...      3 

"         60    ''    70      "         "        ...      1 

The  observation  of  every  other  minister,  no 
doubt,    corroborates    substantially    that    of    Dr. 


234  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

Spencer.  If  so,  such  figures  show,  most  conclu- 
sively, the  great  importance  of  trying  to  reach 
the  hearts  of  the  human  family  wHth  the  gospel 
"in  the  days  of  their  youth."  Indeed,  they 
prove,  beyond  the  possibility  of  doubt,  that  the 
iSabbath-school  is  the  great  field  upon  which  the 
battle  for  Christ  is  to  be  fought.  In  other  words, 
if  the  world  is  to  be  subdued  to  the  Cross,  the 
work  must  be  accomplished  by  the  conversion  of 
the  young;  for  of  all  classes  who  are  out  of 
Christ,  none  are  so  susceptible  to  religious  influ- 
ences as  children  and  youth. 

13.  They  must  supjjort  their  minister  pecuniarily — 
must  enable  those  who  ^^ preach  the  gospel  to  live  of 
the  gospel.'' 

No  point  discussed  in  tiiis  little  book  is,  per- 
haps, of  greater  interest  than  the  one  now  under 
consideration;  and  if  more  space  is  given  to  it 
than  to  others,  the  assertion  just  made  in  regard 
to  its  importance  is  deemed  a* sufficient  apolog}^ 
On  a  subject  so  prolific  in  arguments  it  is  difficult 
to  make  a  selection;  but  the  summary  which  fol- 
lows has  been  chosen. 

(a)  The  analogy  from  all  religions  furnishes  a 
strong  argument  in  support  of  the  position.  The 
history  of  the  past,  as  well  as  that  of  the  present, 
shows  that,  although  there  have  ever  been  a 
"seven  thousand  who  have  not  bowed  the  knee 
to  Baal,"  yet  there  have  been  vast  numbers  who 
have    had    their    "gods    many,    and     tiieir    lords 


rULPIT    AND    PEW.  235 

many."  In  other  words,  while  there  has  ever 
been  a  pure  religion  in  the  world,  it  is  equally 
true  that,  from  the  earliest  history  of  "fallen 
man,"  there  have  ever  been  false  religions — re- 
ligions which  did  not  recognize  the  God  of  the 
Bible.  These  false  religions,  too,  as  their  history 
testifies,  have  ever  had  their  "priests";  and  it  is 
a  fact  which  no  well-informed  person  will  contro- 
vert, that  these  "j^rophcts  of  Baal"  have  been 
most  amply  provided  for,  so  far  as  their  temporal 
necessities  are  concerned.  If,  then,  "the  heathen 
in  tlieir  blindness"  can  see  good  and  sufficient 
reasons  why  their  religious  teachers  should  be  re- 
lieved from  all  anxiety  in  regard  to  tlieir  own  tem- 
poral support,  how  clear  and  convincing — yea, 
how  overwhelming — must  be  the  reasons  to  those 
"whose  souls  are  lighted"  for  makibg  the  same 
provision  for  the  temporal  wants  of  their 
spiritual  instructors!  The  difference  between 
their  religions  is  as  marked  and  distinct  as  that 
be^een  truth  and  ftilsehood — between  light  and 
darkness.  But  the  heathen  believe  (and  in  this 
view  the}^  are  correct)  that  their  priests  cannot 
meet  their  obligations  to  those  whom  they  would 
serve,  unless  they  are  relieved  from  all  worldly 
cares,  and  permitted  to  devote  their  whole  time 
to  their  appropriate  Avork.  Why  should  not 
Christians  so  believe  in  regard  to  their  religious 
guides?  Surely  no  one  can  sa}^  that  the  Christian 
religion  demands  less  thought,  less  labor,  less 
cure,  less  anxiety,  than  these  false  religions.     If, 


236  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

then,  the  heatlien  are  willing  to  be  taxed,  and  that 
heavily,  too,  in  behalf  of  a  religion  which  cannot 
benefit  them,  but,  on  the  contrary,  degrades  them 
and  their  children,  how  anxious — yea,  how  eager — 
should  Christians  be  to  sujiiport  a  religion  of  "ex- 
ceeding great  and  precious  promises" — a  religion 
which  elevates  intellectually,  socially,  and 
morally  its  adherents — a  religion  that  is  adapted 
to  parents  and  to  their  children — a  religion  which 
sustains  the  soul  in  an  hour  for  which  earth  has 
no  comfort  and  philosophy  no  hope — a  religion 
which  -saves  to  the  uttermost,"  and  saves  forever 
all  who  embrace  it  and  pillow  their  dying  heads 
upon  its  blessed  truths. 

(6)  Next,  ministers  of  the  gospel  deserve  a 
temporal  support  upon  the  ground  of  equity  and 
justice.  Some,  it  is  true,  consider  the  amount 
contributed  to  this  class  of  professional  men  as 
charity,  but  it  is  utterly  untrue;  nor  can  any  one 
think  or  speak  of  ministers  in  this  light  without 
fixing  upon  himself  as  base  a  reproach  as  hdRit- 
tenipts  to  fix  upon  that  religion  of  which  they 
are  the  appointed  messengers.  That  which  makes 
an  equivalent  return  for  what  is  received,  cannot 
possibly  be  classed  among  public  charities.  This 
principle  holds  good  in  all  the  transactions  of  life. 
The  vender  of  ardent  spirits  receives  from  his 
patrons  the  proceeds  of  honest  toil;  but  in  return 
gives  only  an  enfeebled  body,  a  frenzied  brain,  a 
broken-hearted  wife,  and  penniless  children. 
Ilis   business,  therefore,  is  not  equitable;   for  it 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  237 

returns  no  just  equivalent.  Bat  in  the  work  of 
a  faithful  minister  of  the  gospel  it  is  vastly  dif- 
ferent; because  there  is  an  abundant  return — 
more  than  an  equivalent — for  the  means  expended 
in  his  support,  both  as  it  relates  to  this  life,  and  to 
that  which  is  to  come — for  ourselves,  for  our 
families,  and  for  the  country  at  large.  The  great 
statesman,  Daniel  Webster,  in  one  of  the  grandest 
speeches  of  his  life,  paid  the  following  tribute  to 
tlie  clergy  of  the  United  States.  Said  he,  ''I  take 
it  upon  myself  to  say,  that  in  no  country  in  the 
world,  upon  either  Continent,  can  there  be  found 
a  body  of  ministers  of  the  gospel  who  perform  so 
much  service  to  man,  in  such  a  full  spirit  of  self- 
denial,  under  so  little  encouragement  from  Gov- 
ernment of  any  kind,  and  under  circumstances 
almost  always  much  straitened  and  often  dis- 
tressed, as  the  ministers  of  the  gospel  in  the 
United  States,  of  all  denominations.  They  are  a 
body  of  clergymen  which,  for  devotedness  to 
their  sacred  calling,  ^for  purity  of  life  and 
character,  for  learning,  intelligence,  pietj',  and 
that  wisdom  which  cometh  from  above,  is  inferior 
to  none,  and  superior  to  most  others  I  hope  that 
our  learned  men  have  done  something  for  the 
honor  of  our  literature  abroad.  I  hope  that  the 
courts  of  justice  and  members  of  the  bar  of  this 
country  have  done  something  to  elevate  the 
character  of  the  profession  of  the  law.  I  hope 
that  the  discussions  above  (in  Congress)  have 
done  something  to  ameliorate  the  condition  of 


238  PULPIT   AND    PEW. 

the  human  race,  to  secure  and  extend  the  great 
charter  of  human  rights,  and  to  strengthen  and 
advance  the  great  principles  of  human  liberty. 
But  I  contend  that  no  literary  efforts,  no  adjudi- 
cations, no  constitutional  discussions,  nothing 
that  has  been  done  or  said  in  favor  of  the  great 
interests  of  universal  man,  has  done  this  country 
more  credit,  at  home  and  abroad,  than  the  estab- 
lishment of  our  body  of  clergymen,  their,  support 
by  voluntary  contributions,  and  the  general  ex- 
cellence of  their  character  for  piety  and  learn- 
ing." 

The  foregoing  is  a  noble  and  eloquent  tribute 
to  ministers  of  the  gospel;  yet  it  scarcely  glances 
at  the  points  which  constitute  their  chief  value. 
Their  work  is  to  instruct  the  ignorant,  reclaim 
the  w\iyward,  comfort  the  mourning,  and  console 
the  dying.  In  a  word,  they  are  instrumentally 
to  save  souls;  and  the  spiritual  blessings,  which 
they  are  the  means  of  bestowing  upon  the  world, 
are  as  priceless  "as  the  blood  of  the  covenant," 
and  as  lasting  as  eternity  itself  Talk  not,  then, 
of  "charity"  in  connection  with  such  services. 
If  ministers  of  the  gospel  do  not  render  an  equiv- 
alent for  the  compensation  which  they  receive, 
then  what  class  of  men  on  earth  does?  Under 
God,  and  according  to  his  own  gracious  economy, 
the  life  of  the  Church  is  bound  up  in  the  life  of 
the  ministry.  If  we  tear  down  the  pulpits  of 
Christendom,  we  may  as  well  burn  to  ashes  the 
buildings  which  contain  them.     If  we  drive  from 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  239 

the  altars  those  lioly  men  whom  God  has  pLaced 
there,  and  seal  the  lips  of*  Heaven's  messengers, 
we  would  create  a  greater  void,  and  inflict  a 
greater  iujiiry  upon  society,  secular  as  well  as 
spiritual,  than  by  the  removal  of  any  other  class 
of  the  world's  population.  If,  then,  there  is  a 
service  on  earth  which  deserves,  in  equity,  a 
cheerful  and  generous  support,  it  is  that  of  the 
gospel  ministry.  Indeed,  it  is  utterly  impossible 
to  adequately  compensate  such  labor.  -We  have  a 
definite  idea  of  w^hat  the  laborer  deserves  who 
builds  our  houses,  plows  our  fields,  and  gathers 
our  harvest;  but  who  can  estimate,  in  dollars  and 
cents,  the  value  of  a  faithful  minister's  service? 
The  fact  is,  any  attempt  to  gauge  the  value  of 
such  services  by  a  commercial  standard,  betrays 
a  mind  too  sordid  to  be  accessible  to  any  form  of 
argument.  Paul  could  be  paid  for  the  "tents" 
he  made;  but  who  could  set  a  price,  in  silver  and 
gold,  for  the  tears  which  he  shed  while  warning 
sinners,  night  and  day,  to  flee  the  wrath  to  come? 
If,  then,  the  lawyer,  the  physician,  the  merchant, 
the  mechanic,  the  farmer,  the  clerk,  the  day- 
laborer,  should  be  compensated  for  the  services 
which  they  perform,  who  will — who  can? — dare  say 
that  the  minister  may  not  receive  comj^ensation 
for  his  services?  The  ministry  is  a  profession; 
and  those  who  labor  in  it  are  just  as  much  en- 
titled to  a  support,  and  a  liberal  one,  too,  as  are 
those  who  give  their  time  and  talents  to  any  other 
profession  or  vocation.     Surely  no  one  will  doubt 


240  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

the  fact  that  it  requires  as  much  talent  to  be  a 
successful  minister  of  the  gospel  as  it  does  to  be 
a  successful  lawyer,  physician,  merchant,  etc.; 
and  if  so,  should  not  be  be  compensated  as  well 
as  they?  In  other  words,  could  not  a  man  who 
has  sufficient  ability  to  succeed  in  the  ministry 
enter  other  professions,  attain  to  eminence,  and 
accumulate  property?  It  is  unnecessary  to  pause 
to  answer  the  question.  Then,  away  with  the 
idea  that  the  gospel  ministry  is  a  profession 
which  has  no  claims  upon  the  world  except  that 
of  charity.  Such  a  view  is  dishonoring  to  God, 
discreditable  to  the  profession,  and  disreputable 
to  the  one  who  entertains  it  God  never  intended 
that  his  ministers  should  be  a  set  of  moral  mendi- 
cants, going  from  door  to  door,  and  begging  for 
the  "crumbs"  which  fall  from  any  man's  table. 
The  resources  of  the  universe  are  his,  and  rather 
than  permit  them  to  be  subjected  to  such  humilia- 
tion, he  would  do  with  them  as  he  did  with 
Elijah — send  ravens  to  feed  them.  It  is  not, 
therefore,  charity,  but  a  debt  which  the  world 
owes  the  gospel  ministry — a  debt  which  is  just  as 
binding  as  any  which  we  can  possibly  incur  by 
having  the  services  of  a  lawyer,  physician,  me- 
chanic, etc.;  and  it  is  just  as  disgraceful  and  dis- 
honorable to  refuse  to  recognize  the  claims  of  the 
former  as  of  the  latter. 

(c)  Again,  it  is  to  the  interest  of  the  people 
themselves  that  their  minister  shall  be  liberally 
sustained  pecuniarily.     Men    cannot  sin  against 


PFLPIT    AND    PEW.  241 

God  without  injuriDg  themselves.  By  "  withhold- 
ing more  than  is  meet"  from  the  miinister,  they 
cut  the  sinews  of  strength  and  exertion;  and  by 
so  doing  they  are  the  losers.  Xo  man  can  preach 
as  he  otherwise  might  when  his  mind  is  harassed 
with  temporal  things.  In  order  that  he  may 
show  himself  ''a  workman  that  needeth  not  to  be 
ashamed,  rightly  dividing  the  word  of  trutli,"'  he 
must  do  as  Paul  directed  Timothy  to  do — -study." 
Bat,  that  he  may  study  to  prolit,  two  things  are 
indispensable — time  and  books.  Unless,  however, 
he  is  sustained  pecuniarily,  he  can  have  neither; 
and  the  result  is,  he  feeds,  or  attempts  to  feed,  his 
flock  upon  -'husks,"  at  the  same  time  feeling  and 
knowing  that  there  is  plenty  and  to  spare  in  his 
Father's  house  if  he  only  had  time  and  oppor- 
tunity to  prepare  it  for  them.  It  is  strange — re- 
markably strange — that  people  will  consent  to 
impoverish  themselves  in  a  spiritual  point  of 
view.  They  are  not  thus  blind  in  temporal 
things — not  even  to  the  brute  creation.  If  they 
would  get  the  greatest  amount  of  efficient  service 
from  a  dumb  beast,  they  recognize  the  fact  that 
the  very  best  thing  they  can  do  for  themselves  is 
to  treat  the  animal  well;  and  the  same  is  true  in 
reference  to  any  other  species  of  property.  Why 
is  it,  then,  that  they  do  not  act  with  the  same 
sound  discretion  in  relation  to  their  minister? 
With  equal  propriety  might  they  expect  profit- 
able service  from  the  dii^'-laborer  whom  they 
would  stint  in  temporal  food,  as  to  expect  efficient 
10 


242  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

labor  from  a  minister  whom  they  would  deprive 
of  intellectual  nourishment.  How  can  a  minister 
feed  his  people  with  "food  convenient  for  them" 
if  his  mind  is  constantly  annoyed  with  the  tem- 
poral affairs  of  his  own  household?  How  can  he 
calmly  sit  down  to  the  preparation  of  a  sermon 
when  he  knows  that  his  wife  and  children  are  in 
want  not  only  of  the  comforts  but  the  necessaries 
of  life?  To  be  indifferent  to  such  things  he 
would  have  to  be  either  superhuman  or  a  brute! 
No  man  of  ordinary-  character  can  help  being 
crushed  by  such  a  load.  Now  and  then,  it  is 
true,  he  may  arouse  himself  to  something  like  an 
effort;  but,  after  all,  it  is  the  effort  of  an  enfeebled 
mind  and  a  bleeding  heart.  The  truth  is,  noth- 
ing on  earth  so  completely  dwarfs  the  intellect 
and  crushes  the  spirit  of  a  minister  as  cold  in- 
difference to,  or  neglect  of,  his  temporal  wants. 
And  one  of  the  great  sins  which  many  congrega- 
tions commit,  and  for  which  the  individual  mem- 
bers of  the  same  will  have  to  answer  at  the  judg- 
ment bar  of  God,  is  this  very  one — dwarfing  the 
minister — making  him  a  pigmy  when  they  might 
have  made  him  a  giant.  How  many  have  just 
such  congregations  driven  to  secular  pursuits — to 
the  farm,  to  the  school-room,  to  the  shop,  to  the 
store,  who  might  have  been  "sons  of  thunder"  if 
the  members  had  done  their  duty.  Who  will  l)e 
held  accountable  at  the  "great  day"  for  the  good 
which  these  secularized  ministers  might  have 
done — for  the  souls  that  the}'  might  have  saved? 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  243 

God  alone  knows  just  where  and  hoic  to  fix  the 
responsibility;  but  one  thing  is  certain,  no  small 
amount  of  it  will  be  upon  those  who  saw  "  their 
brother  in  need,  and  shut  up  their  bowels  of  com- 
passion toward  him."  The  very  best  way,  there- 
fore, for  a  peojile  to  make  their  minister  profit- 
able to  themselves  is  to  support  him  liberally. 
He  will  do  them  better  service — will  feed  them 
upon  food  which  will  strengthen  and  develop 
them — will  lead  their  children  to  Christ,  and  will 
bring  many  others  into  the  fold  who  will  share 
with  them  the  duties  and  expenses  of  the  house 
of  God. 

No  pecuniary  investment  yields  such  a  re- 
turn as  that  employed  in  maintaining  the  gos- 
pel. This  is  emphatically  one  of  the  cases  in 
which,  "as  a  man  sows,  so  shall  he  reap."'  One 
has  said,  and  there  is  much  truth  in  it,  "There 
are  very  few  congregations  too  ^joor  to  support  a 
minister;  but  there  are  thousands  ifoo  2^oor  to  be 
without  one."  Indeed,  all  things  considered,  the 
gospel  ministry  is  one  of  the  cheapest  things  in 
this  world.  Its  bills  are  insignificantly  small  in 
comparison  with  those  which  "the  prince  of  the 
power  of  the  air"  presents.  How  much  easier, 
how  much  better,  for  a  father  to  pay  ten,  twenty, 
fifty,  one  hundred  dollars  to  the  minister  who 
saves  his  children  from  a  life  of  dissipation  and 
shame  than  to  "foot  the  bills"  of  the  ball-room, 
the  drinking-saloon,  the  gambling-hells,  and  "the 
gins  of  the  workers  of  iniquity  " !     It  is  often  the 


244  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

case  that  one  dissipation,  one  "fashionable  amuse- 
ment" for  a  single  child,  costs  more  than  is  paid 
for  the  religious  instruction  of  the  entire  house- 
hold for  a  single  year.  Who,  then,  can  doubt  that 
it  is  to  the  interest,  pecuniary  as  well  as  spiritual, 
of  any  people  to  sustain  the  gospel  ministry? 
Such  an  influence,  in  any  community,  is  like  a 
fountain  in  a  desert — like  the  sun  in  the  heavens. 
Blessings  radiate  from  it  in  every  direction. 
Whatever  is  evil  it  helps  to  eradicate  or  restrain; 
whatever  is  good  it  fosters  and  augments.  It  not 
only  teaches  the  way  to  heaven,  but  it  tells  with 
a  gracious,  though  silent,  power  upon  every  social 
and  secular  interest.  Its  influence  distils  like  tlie 
dew;  and  though  no  human  eye  can  trace  all  of 
its  ramifications,  yet  it  permeates  human  societ}', 
9,nd  develops  the  embryo-germs  of  all  that  is  good 
and  noble  in  the  soul  of  man.  This  is  not  fiction, 
but  sober  reality.  The  annals  of  the  past  may 
be  appealed  to  in  proof  of  the  position  that  the 
gospel  ministry  has  been  the  chief  instrument  of 
all  true,  social,  intellectual,  and  moral  progress, 
and  that  just  in  proportion  as  a  people  enjoy  and 
appreciate  its  labors,  do  they  advance  in  every 
thing  that  exalts,  dignifies,  and  purifies  human 
nature. 

(of)  An  additional  argument  for  sustaining  the 
ministry  pecuniarily  is  based  upon  the  fact  that, 
without  such  a  support,  neither  the  Church  of  the 
present  nor  that  of  the  future  can  possibly  have 
an  adequate  supply  of  consecrated,  efficient  min- 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  245 

isters.  In  all  the  evangelical  denominations  of 
Christendom  there  is  a  vast  number  of  "vacant 
Churches" — Churches  without  the  regular  means 
of  grace;  and  in  each  of  these  denominations,  too, 
there  is  a  long  list  of  unemploj'ed  ministers — 
ministers  "without  charge."  Surely  there  must 
be  a  cause  for  this  melancholy  state  of  things. 
What  is  it?  There  is  but  one  answer — the  min- 
istry is  not  sustained  pecuniarily  as  it  should  be. 
Scores  of  them  are  "standing  all  the  day  idle," 
and  the  reason  therefor  is,  no  Church  "hath  hired 
tliem."  Many  of  them — doubtless  most  of  them — 
have  tried  to  "live  of  the  gospel" — have,  perhaps, 
exhausted  their  own  "'scanty  means,"  thereby  re- 
ducing their  families  almost  to  absolute  want. 
Who  has  not  seen  such  a  sight?  In  many  an 
humble  dwelling  there  sits  a  man  whose  name 
stands  high  upon  the  roll  of  ministerial  ability, 
and  by  his  side  is  a  woman  who  would  be  at  home 
in  an  elegant  mansion,  their  hands  rough  with 
toil,  and  their  garments  thin  with  age.  They  are 
almost  ashamed  for  even  a  brother  minister  to 
see  their  little  table  with  its  rude  and  scanty  fare. 
He  has  spent  many  years  of  his  life  in  preaching 
"Jesus  and  the  resurrection" — has  neglected  his 
temporal  affairs  for  the  privilege  of  so  doing — 
but  now  he  sits  in  mournful  sadness,  knowing 
not  how  long  it  may  be  until  his  ftimily  shall  be 
in  utter  want.  The  people  to  whom  he  has 
preached  have  disregarded  their  obligations  to 
him,  and  by  so  doing  have  driven  him  from  the 


246  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

pulpit.  Words  are  scarcel}^  adequate  to  do  justice 
to  such  treatment.  Suffice  it  to  say,  it  is  the  re- 
finement of  cruelty — is  closely  allied  to  that  tort- 
ure in  the  Inquisition,  in  which  the  unfortunate 
victim  was  so  placed  as  that,  drop  after  drop  of 
water  falling  upon  his  head,  at  last  pierced  the 
brain.  Such  martyrdom  as  a  minister  often  en- 
dures, is  not,  it  is  true,  as  acute  as  that  inflicted 
upon  the  "confessors,"  who,  centuries  ago,  were 
burned  at  the  stake;  but  it  is  more  severe  because 
it  is  more  slow.  There  are  martyrdoms  where 
there* is  no  fire  or  headsman's  ax.  There  are 
punishments,  too,  which  are  worse  than  death. 
Indeed,  the  most  savage  executioners  are  those  who 
do  not  kill,  but  who  spare  their  victims  for  other 
tortures.  Having  received  such  treatment,  how 
can  a  minister  feel  that  zeal  for  his  Church  Avhicli 
is  indispensable  to  usefulness?  The  people  who 
have  thus  treated  him  may  pass  "complimentary 
resolutions"  as  an  "offset"  to  the  large  amount 
of  "arrearages"  which  they  have  permitted  to 
accumulate;  but  to  him  they  are  hollow  and 
hypocritical  shams — do  not  cancel  the  debt,  buy 
bread  for  his  family,  nor  heal  the  heart-wounds 
which  their  conduct  has  inflicted.  There  are 
thousands  upon  thousands  of  just  such  mistreated, 
disheartened,  unemployed  ministers  throughout 
Christendom;  and,  consequently,  there  is  a  still 
greater  number  of  dead  and  dying  Churches — 
Churches  which,  when  they  did  their  duty,  were 
prosperous  and  powerful;  but  now,  like  stranded 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  247 

ships  which  have  lost  their -pilots,  they  exist  as 
monuments  to  warn  others  of  danger.  In  other 
words,  they  have  "robbed  God  in  tithes  and  offer- 
ings"; and,  for  so  doing,  he  has  sent  upon  them 
the  greatest  of  all  calamities,  "not  a  famine  of 
bread,  nor  a  thirst  for  water,  but  of  hearing  the 
words  of  the  Lord" — has  treated  them  as  he  did 
the  Churches  spoken  of  by  John  in  the  Apoca- 
Ij^psc — "has  removed  their  candlesticks." 

The  Church,  then,  of  the  present  is  not  accom- 
plishing its  whole  mission;  and  the  reason  is,  it 
has,  b}'  parsimonious  giving,  secularized  a  large 
portion  of  its  ministers.  God  not  only  deemed 
these  men  worthy  to  preach  his  gospel,  but  neces- 
sary in  the  great  work  of  evangelizing  the  world. 
But  the  gift,  by  thousands  of  congregations,  has 
been  disregarded;  and,  as  a  matter  of  course, 
sinners  are  perishing  for  the  bread  of  life.  "Who 
will  be  held  responsible  for  this  terrible  state  of 
aifairs?  Who  is  responsible  for  this  inadequate 
supply  of  ministers  to  meet  the  Avants  of  a  perish- 
ing world?  God  has  done  his  part — has  called 
men  to  the  work,  but  the  Church  has  not  made 
provision  for  their  temporal  wants.  Who  can 
even  conceive  of  the  grand  results  w^hich  would 
be  accomplished  if  all  the  unemployed  ministers 
of  evangelical  Christendom  were  relieved  from 
temj^orq,!  cares,  and  permitted  to  spend  their 
whole  time  in  their  appropriate  work?  The 
waste  places  would  be  built  up,  sinners  Avould  be 
converted,  the  heathen  would  have  the  gospel,  and 


248  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

the  moral  deserts  of  this  world  would  "blossom 
as  the  rose." 

JSTot  only  does  such  a  course  of  conduct  on  the 
part  of  the  membership  greatly  affect  the  minis 
try  of  the  present,  but  it  has  a  wonderful  in- 
fluence upon  that  of  the  future.  In  view  of  the 
rapidly-increasing  demand  for  "  more  laborers"  in 
the  vineyard  of  the  Lor.d,  there  is  an  alarming- 
paucity  of  young  men  who  seem  willing  to  devote 
their  lives  to  the  sacred  oflice,  as  the  official 
records  of  all  denominations  show^  Many  of 
these  denominations,  in  view  of  the  fact  just 
stated,  have  in  the  last  few  years  issued  heart- 
rending appeals  to  their  people,  calling  special 
and  prayerful  attention  to  the  matter.  Now  why 
this  paucity — this  inadequate  supply?  There  is 
but  one  rational  solution  to  the  problem — the  in- 
efficient support  which  is  given  to  the  ministry  of  the 
^present.  True,  it  is  easy  to  say,  in  answer  to  this, 
that  if  God  has  called  a  young  man  to  the  minis- 
try, no  such  impediment  should  deter  him  from 
entering  upon  it.  But  while  we  admit  the  para- 
mount obligation,  we  must  not  forget  that  human 
nature,  at  best,  is  exceedingly  frail.  When,  there- 
fore, a  young  man  looks  around  him  and  sees  the 
uncertain  and  the  inadequate  support  which  the 
gospel  ministry  promises,  no  difference  how 
urgently  the  SjDirit  calls,  he  is  prone  to  answer  in 
the  language  of  Moses,  "  O  my  Lord,  send,  I  pray 
thee,  by  the  hand  of  him  whom  thou  wilt  send"; 
and  then,  in  the  language  of  another,  he  adds,  "I 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  249 

pray  thee  have  me  excused."  In  any  and  in  all 
the  departments  of  life,  except  the  ministry,  such 
a  young  man  may  count  with  confidence  upon  a 
competency,  not  only  daring  the  vigor  of  man- 
hood, but  for  a  quiet  old  age.  How  hard,  there- 
fore, to  turn  away  from  vocations  which  promise 
an  ample  support,  and  enter  upon  one  Avhich 
holds  out  to  him  a  career  of  severe  toil  and  of 
unrequited  labor!  True,  it  is  not  God's  plan,  as 
we  shall  see  at  the  proper  place  in  this  argument, 
that  the  sacred  office  should  be  one  of  poverty; 
but  the  Church  has,  to  a  great  extent,  made  it  so. 
To  say  the  least,  it  demands  of  its  ministers,  as  a 
general  rule,  a  degree  of  poverty  and  self-denial 
which  it,  in  its  individual  members,  is  wholly  un- 
willing to  endure.  Is  this  right?  Is  it  just?  Is 
it  equitable?  Ministers  are  men  of  "  like  passions 
with  others";  and  w4io  can  lay  his  hand  upon 
his  heart  and  say  that  they  ought  to  be  required 
to  do  more  work  and  better  work  than  any  other 
class  of  laborers  of  equal  mental  and  moral  at- 
tainments for  less  compensation?  No  one  who 
will  properly  reflect  upon  the  subject  will  answer 
in  the  affirmative.  If  he  should  give  his  assent 
to  such  a  proposition,  and  then  act  in  accordance 
with  the  response,  the  only  consolation  which  he 
could  have  therefor,  would  be  the  certainty  that 
he  is  contributing  his  influence  to  greatly  wrong 
not  only  the  ministry  of  the  present,  but  also  that 
of  the  future;  and  by  so  doing,  not  only  injuring 
the  generation  in  which  he  lives,  but  that  which 


250  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

is  to  follow — not  only  his  children,  but  his  chil- 
dren's children.  To  the  true  Christian  there  can 
surely  be  no  consolation  in  contemplating  such  a 
disaster. 

{e)  Again,  the  demands  which  are  made  upon 
ministers  of  the  gospel  afford  an  additional  argu- 
ment in  behalf  of  a  liberal  pecuniary  support. 
In  the  first  part  of  this  little  book  we  attempted 
to  set  forth  the  duties  which  devolve  upon  a  min- 
ister; and  no  one,  it  is  believed,  can  read  that 
summary  without  feeling  that  it  aifords,  in  itself, 
a  strong  argument  in  favor  of  an  amply-sustained 
ministry — a  ministry  relieved  from  temporal 
cares;  for  in  no  other  way  can  such  responsibili- 
ties be  met.  But,  in  addition  to  the  demands 
there  insisted  upon,  there  are  others  of  a  supple- 
mentary character  which  may  be  briefly  stated 
here. 

One  of  the  requisitions  of  a  minister  of  the 
gosj^el,  mentioned  by  Paul,  is,  he  is  to  be  a  "lover 
of  hospitality."  His  house  is  to  be  always  open 
for  the  entertainment  of  "the  brethren."  A  lay 
member  of  the  Church  may  invite  a  stranger 
home  with  him  or  not,  just  as  he  sees  proper,  and 
nothing  is  thought  or  said  about  the  matter.  But 
it  is  not  so  with  a  minister;  ho  must  keep  "oj^en 
house,"  and  must  always  be  prepared  for  com- 
pany. Sick  or  well,  provided  with  domestic  help 
or  not,  his  family  is  expected  to  entertain  the 
"itinerant  brother"  and  the  "traveling  agent." 

The  dignity  of  the   profession,   too,   demands 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  251 

that  the  minister  shall  at  all  times  be  neatly 
dressed.  A  congregation  would  be  ashamed  to 
see  its  minister  with  elbows  out  and  patches  upon 
threadbare  clothing,  and  it, is  to  be  commended 
for  such  decent  pride;  for  nothing,  which  does 
not  involve  moral  character,  more  seriously  in- 
jures the  usefulness  of  a  minister  in  the  estima- 
tion of  every  one  who  has  a  proper  respect  for 
the  sacred  office  than  for  him  to  be  thus  clad. 

Then,  too,  he  must  have  books,  periodicals, 
papers,  etc.,  if  he  would*  keep  abreast  of  the 
times.  No  minister  must  feel  satisfied  with  his 
literary  qualifications  until  he  is  recognized,  at 
least,  as  one  of  the  most  intelligent  men  in  the 
community  in  which  he  labors.  He  must  be  a 
leader  of  j)ublic  thought  and  sentiment, 

Nor  is  this  all.  His  work  brings  him  in  con- 
tact with  poverty  and  suffering  in  almost  every 
conceivable  form;  and,  light  as  his  purse  may  be, 
he  would  be  less  than  human  if  he  did  not  share 
its  contents  to  relieve  those  whom  he  finds  in  such 
circumstances.  ,  In  a  word,  he  must  be  known 
and  recognized  as  the  friend  of  the  poor.  Benev- 
olent enterprises,  too,  make  their  demands  upon 
him;  and  curious  and  inexplicable  as  it  is,  yet  he 
is  expected  to  be  one  of  the  most  liberal  contrib- 
utors to  all  such  demands.  How,  then,  is  it  pos- 
sible to  meet  the  requisitions  which  are  made 
upon  the  sacred  office  unless  those  who  occupy  it 
are  amply  sustained  pecuniarily? 

(/)  Finally,  the  Scriptures  absolutely  and  un- 


252  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

equivocally  demand  that  the  ministry  shall  be 
liberally  provided  for — that  "they  that  preach 
the  gospel  shall  live  of  the  gospel."  Thus  far  we 
have  considered  the  arguments  Avhich  can  be  ad- 
duced outside  of  the  teachings  of  the  Bible  upon 
this  subject.  We  now  propose  to  appeal  "  to  the 
law  and  to  the  testimony" — the  "court  of  last 
appeal." 

Under  the  Old  Dispensation,  it  was  exj^licitly 
and  positively  j^rovided  that  "they  who  minis- 
tered at  the  temple  should  live  of  the  things  of 
the  temple."  This  .  statute  "was  ordained  in 
Israel"  for  the  i)urj)ose  of  securing  to  the  "i^riests 
and  Levites"  a  just  and  liberal  support.  In  lieu 
of  an  inheritance  among  their  brethren,  provision 
was  made  for  their  temporal  wants  by  taxing  all 
the  other  tribes.  Besides  the  "  cities  and  suburbs  " 
ai^i^ropriated  to  their  use,  and  a  share  in  the 
"daily  offerings  of  the  Lord,"  this  one  tribe 
among  the  twelve  was  furnished  with  a  regular 
tithe  (a  tenth)  of  all  the  avails  of  the  harvest  and 
the  vintage.  In  a  word,  this  one  tribe  was  more 
amply  provided  for  than  any  of  the  remaining 
eleven.  Under  no  circumstances  were  the  de- 
mands of  the  law  relaxed.  Whether  the  proceeds 
of  the  harvest  and  vintage  were  abundant  or  de- 
ficient, stiir  the  "statute"  was  imperative.  In- 
deed, so  rigid  was  the  great  Jehovah  in  its  en- 
fbrcement,  that  his  blessings,  neither  spiritual  nor 
temporal,  were  to  be  expected  when  this  law  was 
disregarded.     Tlie  command  was,  "  Bring  ye  all 


I 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  253 

the  tithes  into  the  storehouse";  and  unless  the 
requisition  was  complied  with,  the  windows  of 
heaven  were  not  opened,  nor  were  blessings 
poured  out  upon  the  people.  Nor  has  the  careful 
reader  of  the  history  of  the  Jews,  as  recorded  in 
the  Old  Testament  Scriptures,  failed  to  observe 
that  their  spiritual  and  temporal  condition  varied 
according  as  they  complied  with,  or  disregarded, 
the  law  of  God  in  this  particular.  The  truth  is, 
some  of  the  severest,  some  of  the  most  direful 
calamities  which  befell  the  Israelitish  nation, 
came  upon  that  people  because  they  refused  to 
"honor  God  with  their  substance"  as  he  had 
directed,  and  thereby  drove  his  priests  from  the 
temple  to  follow  some  secular  employment,  (See 
Neh.  xiii.  10,  11.) 

Under  the  New  Testament  Dispensation,  it  is 
true,  the  office  of  the  priesthood,  for  which  such 
liberal  provision  had  been  made,  was  abolished; 
but  another  was  created,  which  is  to  take  its 
place  for  all  time  to  come.  The  gospel  ministrj^, 
therefore,  is  in  the  room  and  stead  of  the  priest- 
hood— is,  so  to  speak,  its  legitimate  successor. 
Tliis  being  true,  it  must  surely  be  entitled  to  the 
benefits  which  its  predecessor  enjoyed,  viz.,  ex- 
emption from  the  cares  and  anxieties  of  temporal 
things,  and  a  liberal  support.  Indeed,  when  we 
take  into  account  the  greatly-increased  labors  of 
the  gospel  ministry  over  those  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment priesthood,  we  see  good  and  sufficient  reasons 
for     additional     exertions     and     for     additional 


254  PULriT    AND    PEW. 

liberality.  The  blessed  Saviour,  however,  has  not 
left  the  matter  in  doubt  or  uncertainty.  He  who 
abolished  the  priesthood,  and  substituted  in  its 
place  the  "ministry  of  reconciliation,"  did  not 
fail  to  teach  what  he  demanded  of  both  classes — 
ministers  and  people.  When  he  called  men  to 
the  work  of  the  ministry  he  gave  them  clearly  to 
understand  that  they  must  forsake  their  temporal 
avocatiojis;  consequently,  no  difference  what  their 
"trade  or  profession"  was — whether  that  of 
fishermen  or  of  tax-gatherers — they  at  once  aban- 
doned those  callings  and  "followed  him."  After 
giving  them  the  proper  instructions,  and  after 
conferring  upon  them  those  spiritual  gifts  which 
were  to  qualify  them  to  meet  the  responsibilities 
which  he  had  imposed  upon  them,  he  said,  "Pro- 
vide neither  gold,  nor  silver,  nor  brass  in  your 
purses,  nor  scrip  for  your  journey,  neither  two 
coats,  neither  shoes,  nor  yet  staves :  for  the  work- 
man is  worthy  of  his  meat."  (Matt.  x.  9,  10.) 
From  this  it  will  be  seen  that  tlie  blessed  Saviour 
expressly  forbade  that  the}^  should  provide  for 
themselves  more  than  they  carried  away  with 
them  when  they  entered  upon  their  mission ;  but 
required  them  to  depend  upon  the  people  to  whom 
they  preached,  and  gave  as  the  reason,  "the  work- 
man is  worthy  of  his  meat."  To  the  same  effect 
precisely  were  his  instructions  to  the  seventy. 
(See  Luke  x.  7.)  Here  the  language  is,  "the 
laborer  is  worthy  of  his  hire." 

Let  it  not  be  forgotten  that  this  is  the  first  com- 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  255 

mission  received  from  tlieir  Lord.  Tliese  disciples, 
too,  be  it  remembered,  were  sent  first  to  the  Jews, 
who,  from  their  earliest  history  as  a  nation,  had 
been  taught  that  their  religious  teachers  were  en- 
titled to  a  liberal  support.  Nor  could  the  Jews, 
as  the  Saviour  knew,  deny  their  obligations  to 
support  the  men  who  were  now  in  the  room  and 
stead  of  the  priesthood  without  disregarding  a 
law  which,  centuries  before,  had  been  enacted  by 
the  Head  of  the  Church,  Then,  does  not  every 
one  see  that  Christ,  at  the  very  commencement 
of  the  gospel  dispensation,  asserted  the  right  of 
the  ministry  which  he  had  chosen  to  a  support 
from  those  to  whom  they  were  sent  to  preach? 
Did  he  not  establish  it  as  a  principle  of  his  king- 
dom? Yea,  did  he  not  place  the  obligation  to 
support  his  ministers  upon  the  same  ground  of 
moral  right  as  that  of  the  priesthood?  No  one 
who  is  capable  of  comprehending  the  import  of 
language  can  answer  these  questions  in  the 
negative. 

Again,  Paul,  in  his  first  letter  to  the  Church  at 
Corinth,  presents  a  most  conclusive  argument 
upon  the  subject.  (See  1  Cor.  ix.  4-15.)  He 
says  (verses  4-6)  "Have  we  not  power  to  eat 
and  to  drink?  Have  we  not  power  to  lead  about 
a  sister,  a  wife,  as  well  as  other  apostles,  and  as 
the  brethren  of  the  Lord,  and  Cephas?  Or  I  only 
and  Barnabas,  have  not  we  power  to  forbear 
working?"  The  word  powe?"  in  the  foregoing,  as 
the  original  shoves,  means  right,  jmvilege,  authority. 


256  rULPIT    AND    PEW. 

It  seems  that  some  one  had  been  silly  enough  to 
call  in  question  Paul's  right  to  a  support  from 
the  2)eople  to  whom  he  preached;  and  with  that 
boldness  and  inde2)endence  which  ever  character- 
ized the  man,  he  sharply  resented  the  injustice, 
by  asserting  that  he  was  not  only  entitled  to  a 
support  for  himself,  but  for  a  wife  also,  if  he  saw 
proper  to  marry.  He  then  asks  (verse  7),  "  Who 
goeth  a  warfare  any  time  at  his  own  charges? 
who  planteth  a  vineyard,  and  eateth  not  of  the 
fruit  thereof?  or  who  feedeth  a  flock,  and  eateth 
not  of  the  milk  of  the  flock?"  Here  he  makes 
the  point  clear  and  emphatic,  that  a  minister  of 
the  gospel  has  as  good  a  right  to  a  su2)port  as  a 
soldier  has  to  his  wages,  or  the  husbandman  to 
the  fruits  and  flocks  of  his  own  fields  and  herds. 
As  proof  upon  this  point,  he  says  (verses  8-10), 
"Say  I  these  things  as  a  man?  or  saith  not  the 
law  the  same  also?  For  it  is  written  in  the  law 
of  Moses,  Thou  shalt  not  muzzle  the  mouth  of  the 
ox  that  treadeth  out  the  corn.  Doth  God  take 
care  for  oxen  ?  Or  saith  he  it  altogether  for  our 
sakes?  For  our  sakes,  no  doubt,  this  is  written: 
that  he  that  ploweth  should  plow  in  hope;  and 
that  he  that  thresheth  in  hope  should  be  partaker 
of  his  hope."  In  the  three  verses  which  j^recede, 
the  Apostle,  in  perfect  accord  with  the  teaching 
of  the  blessed  Saviour  upon  this  ])oint,  positively 
asserts  that  the  gospel  ministry  has  the  same 
right  to  a  pecuniary  support  as  had  the  priest- 
hood of  which  it  is  the  successor.     These  verses, 


rULPIT    AND    PEW.  257 

too,  prepare  the  way  for  the  overwhelming  appeal 
contained  in  the  eleventh  verse.  "If  we  have 
sown  unto  you  spiritual  things,  is  it  a  great  thing 
if  we  shall  reap  your  carnal  things?"  As  if  he 
had  said,  You  who  would  pay  the  soldier  for  his 
services;  you  who  would  give  the  fruit  of  the 
vineyard  to  him  that  planted  it;  you  who  would 
permit  him  who  fed  the  flock  to  drink  the  milk 
of  it — will  you,  I  say,  grudge  to  give  us  a  portion 
of  3'our  earthly  things,  while  we  have -sown  unto 
you  spiritual  things?  Will  you  thus  virtuall}^ 
declare  that  he  who  labors  for  your  bodies  better 
deserves  a  reward  than  he  who  seeks  the  good  of 
your  souls?  And  will  you  cheerfully  remunerate 
the  one,  and  withhold  from  the  other?  He  then 
adds  (verse  12),  "If  others  be  partakers  of  this 
power  over  you,  are  not  we  rather?  Neverthe- 
less we  have  not  used  this  power;  but  sufl'er  all 
things,  lest  we  should  hinder  the  gospel  of 
Christ."  In  the  latter  clause  of  this  verse  he 
says  that  though  from  prudential  reasons,  in  that 
particular  instance,  he  had  not  exercised  that 
power  as  his  right,  yet  he  by  no. means  intended 
to  relinquish  it;  for  in  the  very  next  verse  he 
says,  "  Do  ye  not  know,  that  they  which  minister 
about  holy  things  live  [esthiousin,  eat]  of  the 
things  of  the  temple?  and  they  which  wait  at  the 
altar  are  partakers  with  the  altar?"  Here  he 
again  alludes  to  the  priesthood,  and  once  more 
places  the  gospel  ministry,  so  far  as  temporal 
support  is  concerned,  upon  the  same  footing  as 
17 


258  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

that  of  the  Levitical  priesthood.  Then,  having 
made  the  argument  (an  argument  which  no  power 
of  logic  can  overthrow)  he  triumphantly  draws 
the  conclusion:  ^^ Even  so  hath  the  Lord  ordained^ 
that  they  which  preach  the  gospel  should  live  of  the 
gospel.''  And  just  here,  perhaps,  is  the  proper 
place  to  say  that  to  "live  of  the  gospel"  does  not 
mean,  as  many  have  construed  it,  a  hare  support — 
a  living  just  above  the  i:>oint  of  starvation— it 
means  a  liberal,  generous  support,  such  as  other 
men  receive  in  the  various  callings  of  Iffe. 

Many  other  passages  of  scripture  might  be 
quoted,  showing  the  obligation  of  tlie  member- 
ship to  sustain  the  ministry;  but  surely  no  one 
can  ask  for  additional  proof  Then,  may  we  not, 
must\Y(i  not,  come  to  the  conclusion  that  tlie  doc- 
trine upon  which  we  are  insisting  is  an  ordinance 
of  God?  If  it  is  not  as  much  so  as  any  other 
Christian  duty  enforced  by  the  Bible,  then  words 
are  destitute  of  meaning.  Who,  then,  has  a  right 
to  gainsay  or  annul  this  ordinance  of  Heaven? 
How  wicked,  therefore,  to  defraud  God's  ministers 
out  of  their  just  dues!  Some  profess  to  think 
that  the  best  way  to  keep  a  minister  humble,  and 
to  get  the  most  efficient  service  out  of  him,  is  to 
surround  him  with  poverty.  Such  a  pitiful  ex- 
cuse, for  it  is  not  an  argument,  is  basely  unworthy 
of  any  man,  whether  saint  or  sinner,  who  claims 
to  be  honest.  Those  who  utter  it,  for  none  of 
them  believe  it,  endeavor,  under  the  cloak  of 
hypocrisy,  to  hide  their  ungodly  penuriousness. 


PULPIT   AND    PEW.  259 

Churches,  if  there  be  any  such,  that  would  act 
upon  this  plea,  are  too  niggardly  to  prosper,  and 
should  be  avoided  by  all  ministers,  just  as  honest 
people  shun  a  merchant  who  is  in  the  habit  of 
giving  false  w^eight  and  short  measure.  Such  a 
sentiment  should  be  scorned  by  all  good  peoj^le. 
Besides,  if  poverty  is  good  for  the  minister,  ought 
it  not  to  be  equally  good  for  the  membership? 
Those  who  oppose  a  liberal  support  for  the  minis- 
try invariably  cite  the  conduct  of  Paul  in  refus- 
ing compensation  at  the  hands  of  the  Corinthians. 
True,  he  did  decline  in  that  particular  case;  but 
he  did  not  even  intimate  that  it  was  morally  or 
legally  wrong  for  him  to  receive  aid  Indeed,  it 
was  the  only  Church  from  which  he  did  refuse  to 
receive  wages.  The  reason  he  did  so  in  this  case 
was,  his  motives  had  been  assailed;  and  ias  the 
Church  at  Corinth  was  made  up  of  converted 
Pagans  who,  of  course,  knew  nothing  scarcely  of 
the  Scripture  rule  upon  this  subject,  Paul  deemed 
it  expedient,  in  that  particular  instance,  to  refuse 
compensation.  Eut,  as  stated  previously,  it  was 
a  matter  of  expediency,  and  not  of  right,  as  the 
Apostle  teaches.  If,  however,  Paul  had  pursued 
such  a  course  generally,  still  it  would  not  affect  the 
principle  contended  for,  because  he  was  inspired, 
and  did  not  need  time  for  the  2:>reparation  of  his 
sermons,  as  ministers  of  the  present  age  do.  Let, 
then,  no  one  plead  the  conduct  of  Paul,  in  this 
case,  as  an  excuse  for  refusing  to  support  the 
ministry. 


260  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

Then,  in  conclusion  upon  this  all-important 
subject,  let  every  Christian  determine,  by  the  help 
of  God,  to  do  his  whole  dutj'.  The  money  which 
should  be  given  to  the  ministry  may  be  withheld ; 
but,  if  it  is  done,  it  will  be  at  the  peril  of  God's 
displeasure.  Instead  of  benefiting  the  professed 
Christian  who  thus  holds  on  to  it,  it  will  be  a 
curse  to  him  and  to  his  children.  Eather,  then,  than 
put  it  into  his  own  coifer,  he  had  better  do  with 
it  as  Judas  did  with  the  money  which  he  obtained 
by  betra^Hng  Christ — "cast  it  down."  No  Chris- 
tian can  prosper  who  "robs  God." 

Now,  as  to  the  exact  amount  which  the  minis- 
ter is  to  receive,  the  New  Testament,  of  course, 
is  silent;  for  that  depends  upon  "numerous  cir- 
cumstances" which  need  not  be  mentioned  here. 
But  one  thing  is  evident,  no  congregation,  no  in- 
dividual, has  come  up  to  the  full  measure  of  duty 
unless  the  minister  is  comfortably  supported. 
Nor  is  it  any  more  just  or  reasonable  to  expect  a 
minister  of  the  gospel  to  labor  simply  for  a  bare 
living  tban  to  expect  that  others  shall  do  so.  To 
him  as  well  as  to  others  there  comes  a  "rainy 
day,"  and  an  "infirm  old  age";  and  he  has  the 
same  right  to  provide  against  these  that  any  one 
else  has.  Indeed,  he  has  a  stronger  reason  for 
doing  so  than  any  other  class  of  professional  men; 
for  of  all  professional  men,  none  are  "laid  upon 
the  shelf"  on  account  of  old  age  at  so  early  a  day 
as  are  ministers  of  the  gospel. 

Let,  then,  no  Christian  professor  "lay  the  flat- 


PULPIT   AND    PEW.  261 

teriDg  unction  to  his  soul"  that  he  can  disregard 
his  obligation  to  sustain  the  gospel.  The  eyes  of 
Jesus  are  upon  the  contributions  made  to  his 
cause  now^  just  as  they  were  when  "he  sat  over 
against  the  treasury"  while  he  was  upon  earth. 
(See  Mark  xii.  41.)  No  man,  therefore,  however 
expert  he  may  be  in  deceiving  his  fellow-man,  can 
deceive  Christ.  Moreover,  the  same  God  who 
struck  down  Ananias  and  Sapphira  for  refusing 
to  give  the  amount  which  they  should  have  be- 
stowed, is  as  powerful  to-day  as  he  was  when  that 
unfaithful  household  withheld  its  contributions 
from  his  cause.  (See  Acts  v.  1-10.)  True,  he 
may  not,  as  in  that  case,  strike  those  dead  who 
refuse  to  do  their  duty;  but  as  sure  as  God  exists, 
and  as  sure  as  the  Bible  is  true,  no  Christian  can 
disregard  his  obligation,  in  this  particular,  with- 
out suffering,  sooner  or  later,  the  displeasure  of 
that  Being  who  has  said,  "  Vengeance  is  mine;  I 
will  repay,  saith  the  Lord."  Let,  then,  every 
Christian  resolve,  by  the  help  of  God,  that  he  will 
do  his  whole  duty  in  this  regard,  and  do  it  cheer- 
fully. But,  under  no  circumstances,  let  him  wait 
until  .God  sends  his  messengers  of  vengeance — • 
sickness,  death,  fire,  disaster,  etc. — to  collect  his 
just  and  equitable  claims. 

14.  They  must  disseminate  the  religion  which  they 
profess — must  have  a  missionary  spirit. 

It  is  impossible,  in  a  few  pages,  to  do  justice  to 
a  subject  fraught  with  such  interests  as  is  the  one 


262  pur.riT  and  pew. 

under  consideration.  It  must  suffice,  therefore,  to 
present  simply  the  leading  arguments,  and  to  do 
that,  too,  in  ratiier  a  summary  way. 

Before,  however,  presenting  the  arguments  in 
favor  of  missions,  it  will  not  be  out  of  place  to 
briefly  consider  some  of  the  principal  objections 
which  are  urged  in  opposition — arguments  used 
by  those  who  refuse  to  engage  in  the  missionary 
work. 

Some  object  on  the  ground  that  it  is  too 
costl}^ — that  it  requires  too  large  a  per  cent,  of 
the  contributions  made  to  meet  the  expenses  of 
the  Boards  which  have  this  matter  in  charge. 
Bat  is  it  true?  Do  our  Missionary  Boards  cost 
more  than  any  other  charitable  or  commercial 
institutions?  Without  hesitation  the  question  is 
answered  in  the  negative.  If  we  take  all  the 
Boards  of  the  different  Churches  of  Christendom, 
and  make  an  average  of  the  per  cent,  demanded 
for  conducting  them,  we  will  find  that  the  amount 
will  not  exceed  eight  per  cent.  Will  these  Boards, 
then,  suffer  in  comparison  ^vitli  even  our  most 
popular  and  best-managed  commercial  institu- 
tions? A  few,  perhaps,  who  read  this  statement 
may  be  prepared  to  show  from  the  statistics  of 
their  own  denominations  that  their  Boards  of 
Missions  consume  more  than  eight  per  cent.;  but 
the  reason  therefor  can  be  easily  explained:  the 
entire  amount  given  for  missions  by  their  denomina- 
tions is  so  utterly  insignificant^  in  comparison  with 
what  it  should  be,  that  it  requires  a  large  per  cent,  of 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  263 

it  to  pay  one  officer  even  a  meager  salary.  Without 
the  fear  of  successful  contradiction  the  statement 
is  made  that  there  is  not,  in  all  Christendom,  a 
denomination  of  one  hundred  thousand  members 
which  could  not  bring  down  the  expenses  of  its 
Board  of  Missions  to  less  than  six  per  cent,  if  the 
membership  would  give  to  the  cause  as  it  is  re- 
quired to  do  by  the  Bible.  Then  away  with  such 
an  objection.  Tlie  only  reason  why  the*  expenses 
consume  so  large  a  per  cent,  is  because  of  the 
parsimonious  contributions  of  the  membership. 
Those  persons,  then,  who  resort  to  such  a  pretext 
for  not  giving  to  the  cause  of  missions,  should  re- 
member that  the  plea  which  they  offer  is,  to  use 
the  mildest  expression,  by  no  means  creditable  to 
themselves.  They  are  the  authors  of  the  difficulty  of 
ichich  they  comjylain. 

Another  objection  urged  is,  we  have  enough  to 
do  at  home — have  the  heathen  at  our  own  doors. 
Those  who  offer  this  objection  never  fail  to  quote 
w^hat  they  consider  a  very  appropriate  passage  of 
scripture — "Charity  begins  at  home."  But,  un- 
fortunately for  them,  there  is  no  such  language 
in  the  Bible!  Dr.  Haygood,  one  of  the  finest 
writers  of  this  century,  in  sj)eaking  of  this  hack- 
neyed phrase,  says,  "  It  is  a  neat  pocket  edition 
of  selfishness."  No  better  definition,  perhaps, 
could  be  given  of  it,  "  Charity  begins  at  home!" 
How  ridiculous,  how  absurd!  The  truth  is,  there 
can  be  no  charity  until  we  get  beyond  home. 

But  it  is  a  sufficient  answer  to  this  objection  to 


264  PULPIT    ANJD    PEW. 

say  that  those  who  urge  it  the  most  vehemently 
do  less  for  the  gospel  at  home  than  any  one  else; 
and  that  the  sentiment  is  in  direct  conflict  with 
the  teachings  of  Christ  and  with  the  conduct  of 
the  apostles.  If  the  latter  had  waited  until  all 
Judea — their  own  country — had  been  converted 
before  they  tried  to  save  the  heathen,  what  would 
have  become  of  the  Gentile  world?  The  entire 
population  of  the  globe,  to-day,  except  that  small 
area,  would  be  without  God  and  without  hope  in 
the  world ! 

Again,  we  are  told  that  the  results  accomplished 
do  not  justify  such  heavy  outlays  of  money.  Of 
course,  no  well-informed  person  will  urge  such  an 
objection,  for  facts  palpably  contradict  it.  Statis- 
tics which  are  entirely  reliable,  and  which  would 
be  here  given  did  space  permit,  show  that  the 
foreign  field,  for  years  past,  has  yielded  more  con- 
verts in  proportion  to  the  labor  and  means  ex- 
pended than  the  home  field. 

Do  we  ask  for  additional  testimony  in  reference 
to  "results"?  If  so,  all  we  have  to  do  is  to  turn 
our  eyes  to  the  Sandwich  Islands,  to  Madagascar, 
to  the  Friendly  Islands,  to  the  Fiji  Islands,  etc., 
etc.,  which  were  in  a  few  years,  comparatively, 
converted  from  the  grossest  idolatry — yea,  from 
cannibalism  to  Christianity;  and  which  to-day 
are  sparkling  jewels  in  the  Saviour's  crown.  In 
addition  to  these,  look  at  the  grand  achievements 
of  the  Cross  in  India,  Australia,  China,  Japan, 
etc.,  etc.     Besides  the  unnumbered  thousands  who 


PULPIT   AND   PEW.  265 

have  thus  been  brought  to  Christ  by  missionary 
effort,  the  Soly  Scriptures  have  been  transhited, 
printed,  and  circulated  in  nearly  three  hundred 
of  the  dialects  of  our  race.  I^early  all  of  these 
translations,  too,  have  been  made  by  missionaries 
in  the  field,  while  engaged  in  their  regular  mis- 
sion work  of  preaching  and  teaching.  In  a  word, 
the  whole  Gentile  world,  embracing  the  most 
powerful  and  most  enlightened  nations  upon  the 
globe,  are  the  grand  conquests  of  missions. 

Having  briefly  considered  the  objections  to 
missions,  we  are  now  prepared  to  weigh  the  argu- 
ments on  the  other  side  of  the  question. 

A  strong  argument  in  favor  of  the  position  as- 
sumed grows  out  of  the  fact  that  the  religion  of 
the  Bible  is  adapted  to  all,  and  is  intended  for  all. 
Of  all  the  sj^stems  of  religion  known  to  the 
world,  that  system  which  is  taught  in  the  Sacred 
Scriptures  is  the  only  one  which  is  adapted  to  the 
wants  of  man.  It  is  the  only  one,  too,  which 
could  possibly  become  universal — the  only  one 
suited  to  all  climes,  to  all  peoples,  and  to  all  ages. 
There  is  not  a  more  complete  adaptation  between 
the  eye  and  light,  between  the  ear  and  sound,  be- 
tween the  air  and  the  respiratory  organs,  than 
there  is  between  the  religion  of  the  Bible  and  the 
wants  of  the  whole  human  family.  Other 
systems,  like  the  vegetable  productions  of  the 
earth,  have  their  distinct  boundaries — lines  which 
they  cannot  pass  and  live.  But  the  religion  of 
the  Bible  is  indigenous — is  at  home  everywhere. 


26G  PULriT    AND    PEW. 

whether  upon  "Greenland's  icy  mountains,  or  on 
India's  coi^xl  strand."  No  country  on  this  broad 
earth  has  ever  been  discovered  where  the  "rose 
of  Sharon"  will  not  grow;  nor  can  there  be  found 
a  people,  "from  pole  to  pole,"  who  do  not  need 
the  religion  which  the  Bible  inculcates.  It  is  de- 
signed for  the  world,  and  is  suited  to  the  exigences 
of  the  world.  It  has  a  universality  of  purpose, 
and  a  universality  of  character,  distinguishing  it 
from  all  other  systems.  Its  precepts  and  doc- 
trines are  adapted  to  every  period.  They  belong 
specially  to  no  civilization,  to  no  age,  to  no  raCc. 
As  to  other  religions,  as  has  been  intimated,  they 
are  purely  local,  without  even  the  conception  of 
a  universal  extension.  They  have  risen,  flour- 
islied,  and  decayed,  within  their  narrow  domains, 
except  only  as  they  have  been  propagated  by  the 
sword.  No  religion,  save  that  of  the  Bible,  has 
grasped  the  idea  of  one  faith  for  all  nations,  and 
has  taught  that  its  field  is  the  world,  and  its  home 
the  heart  of  every  human  being.  It  can  reach 
men  just  where  they  are,  notwithstanding  their 
peculiarities  of  race,  color,  climate,  etc.,  and  make 
them  the  friends  of  God  and  the  heirs  of  everlast- 
ing life.  It  needs  no  pioneer.  It  invokes  no 
other  agencies  to  prepare  the  way  of  its  coming. 
It  is  itself  the  pioneer  of  Jehovali — the  herald  of 
the  great  King. 

The  luiman  race  is  one  great  brotherhood.  All 
men  are  sinners,  and  all  men  need  a  Saviour.  If, 
too,  the  gospel  can  save  one  man,  it  can   save  all 


PULPIT    AND   PEW.  267 

men.  If  one  man  needs  it,  then  all  men  need  it. 
The  gospel  is  just  as  necessary  to  the  heathen  as 
it  is  to  us.  If  this  is  not  true,  then  the  Yedas  and 
the  Koran  are  as  .valuable  as  the  Bible;  and  Con- 
fucius and  Mohammed  are  as  authoritative  as 
Christ.  But  who  can  so  say?  or  so  believe? 
Nothing  can  take  the  place  of  the  religion  of  the 
Bible.  It  is  the  only  panacea  for  human  sorrow. 
Other  systems  of  religion,  for  ages  past,  have  been 
thoroughly  tried,  and  have  utterl}'  failed  to  meet 
the  wants  of  the  immortal  soul.  The  gospel  of 
Christ  contains  the  only  rational  solution  to  the 
question,  "How  shall  a  man  be  just  with  God"? 
Scientists,  it  is  true,  profess  to  be  in  doubt  as  to 
the  unity  of  the  human  race;  and  they  go  round 
considering  the  thickness  of  skulls,  measuring  the 
size  of  heads  and  length  of  heels;  and  then  sit 
down  in  perplexity  and  doubt !  But  the  gos^^el, 
by  its  adaptation  to  the  wants  of  universal  man, 
as  well  as  by  its  own  words,  says  in  language 
which  cannot  be  misinterpreted,  "Grod  hath  nfade 
of  one  blood  all  nations  of  men." 

Not  only,  however,  is  the  gospel  adapted  to  all, 
but  it  is  intended  for  all.  On  this  point  the 
Divine  record  is  clear  and  emphatic.  "God  so 
loved  the  world,  that  he  gave  his  only  begotten 
Son,  that  whosoever  b'  lieveth  in  him  should  not 
perish,  but  have  everlasting  life."  (John  iii.  16.) 
"For  the  love  of  Christ  constraineth  us;  because 
we  thus  judge,  that  if  one  died  for  all,  then  were 
all  dead."     (2  Cor.  v.  II.)     "Who  gave  himself  a 


268  rULPIT   AND   PEW. 

rjinsom  for  all,  to  be  testified  in  due  time."  (1 
Tim.  ii.  6.)  "Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that  labor 
and  are  heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest. 
(Matt.  xi.  28.) 

Hundreds  of  similar  passages,  as  the  reader 
knows,  could  be  given ;  but  these  are  sufficient  to 
prove  that  Christ  "  tasted  death  for  every  man  " ; 
and,  consequently,  that  his  gospel  is  intended  for 
all.  The  field,  then,  in  which  the  Christian  is  to 
labor  is  the  world.  But  how  can  the  world  "be- 
lieve without  a  preacher?  and  how  can  they 
preach  except  they  be  sent?" 

Next,  gratitude  demands  the  exercise  of  such  a 
spirit,  and  the  heart  of  every  true  Christian 
prompts  him  to  comply  with  the  duty.  The 
Christian  knows  the  value  of  the  gospel.  Once 
he  was  an  unpardoned  sinner.  Every  human  ex- 
pedient was  tried,  but  no  relief  came.  But  when 
he  trusted  in  Christ,  light  came — yea,  "joy  un- 
speakable and  full  of  glor}^"  filled  his  soul.  Now, 
shoUld  he  not  feel  grateful  for  this  inestimable 
blessing?  Ought  he  not  to  do  all  in  his  power  to 
have  others  drink  of  the  same  inexhaustible 
fountain  of  Divine  love?  What  would  he  take 
for  the  hopes  which  the  gospel  has  inspired  in  his 
own  soul?  For  what  would  he  barter  away  his 
l^rospects  for  heaven? — have  no  more  delightful 
seasons  in  the  closet  and  in  the  sanctuary? — no 
sacramental  communions? — no  Pisgah  views? — 
no  fellowshij)  with  Christians? — no  "crown  of 
life"?     While,  therefore,  he  feels  that  he  is  an  heir 


PULPIT   AND    PEW.  269 

to  such  an  inheritance — "an  inheritance,  incor- 
ruptible, iindefiled,  and  that  fadeth  not  away" — 
should  he  not  have  a  burning  solicitude  for  those 
who  are  "  without  Grod,  and  without  hope  in  the 
world"?. 

AVho  can  estimate  the  claim  of  redemption? 
"What!  know  ye  not  that  ye  are  not  your  own? 
for  ye  are  bought  with  a  price!"  Alas,  that  our 
familiarity  with  the  grand  scheme  of  redemption 
should  ever  diminish  the  freshness  and  force  of 
its  claim! — that  we  do  not  always  feel  as  if  the 
price  had  just  been  paid!  Did  we  j^'operly  ap- 
preciate it,  if  there  were  only  one  human  being 
in  the  world  who  had  never  heard  of  Jesus  Christ, 
we  would  feel  that  it  was  worthy  the  combined 
efforts  of  all  Christians  to  labor  for  his  salvation. 
What  exertions  have  been  made  to  find  Sir  John 
Franklin  and  his  comrades — only  lost  in  the 
Arctic  seas !  Then  how  diligent  should  Christians 
be  in  search  of  the  teeming  millions  of  heathen 
who,  knowing  nothing  of  God  and  of  his  religion, 
are  in  imminent  danger  of  being  lost,  body  and 
soul,  in  hell  forever ! 

But,  as  has  been  stated,  the  heart  of  every 
genuine  Christian  urges  him  to  comply  with  this 
duty.  When  he  feels  the  love  of  Grod  in  his  own 
heart;  when  he  contemplates  the  grand  scheme 
of  redemption,  he  is  not  only  ready  to  exclaim  in 
the  language  of  the  poet, 

"  Enough  for  each,  enough  for  all, 
Enough  for  evea-more;" 


270  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

but  he  is  ready  to  aid  in  the  dissemination  of  that 
reli<^ion  "to  earth's  remotest  bounds"—  feels  that 
his  piety  should  be  essentially  missionary,  and 
that  it  is  his  imperative  duty  to  work  for  the 
evangelization  of  the  whole  world.  There  are 
many  reasons  why  all  Christians  thus  feel.  They 
know  that  provision  has  been  made  for  all;  that 
all  need  it;  and  that,  without  it,  no  sinner  can  be 
saved.  They  also  desire  to  see  the  kingdom  of 
Christ  extended  because  they 'themselves  belong 
to  that  kingdom — "arc  heirs  of  God  and  joint 
heirs  with  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ."  They,  there- 
fore, feel  that  "all  things"  are  theirs;  and  that 
when  God  calls  upon  them  to  aid  in  "lengthening 
the  cords  and  strengthening  the  stakes"  of  Zion, 
he  is  simply  calling  upon  them  to  increase  their 
own  inheritance.  The  heirs  of  a  throne  are  w^ill- 
ing  to  see  immense  treasures  expended  in  build- 
ing up  that  throne.  Believers,  then,  in  a  certain 
sense,  have  the  same  interest  in  disseminating  the 
gospel  that  God  himself  has;  for  each  one  of  them 
is  a  member  of  that  "little  flock"  to  whom  it  is 
the  "  Father's  good  pleasure  to  give  the  kingdom." 
An  additional  argument  is  based  upon  the  fixct 
that  such  a  spirit  promotes  religious  growth  and 
development.  A  Church-member  who  is  destitute 
of  the  "spirit  of  missions,"  is  destitute  of  the 
spirit  of  Christ.  The  Great  Teacher  said,  "Go 
ye  into  all  the  world,  and  preach  the  gospel  to 
every  creature" — not  to  the  Jewish  nation  onlj^, 
but  to  all  nations.     In  his  broad  and  comprehen- 


PULPIT   AND   PEW.  271 

sive  plan  "there  is  neither  Greek  nor  Jew,  circum- 
cision nor  nncircumcision,  barbarian,  Scythian, 
bond  nor  free."  The  commission,  then,  was  not 
limited  to  those  to  whom  it  was  personally  given, 
but  extends  to  their  successors — to  all  who 
"should  believe  on  him  through  their  word.'  It 
Avas  intended  to  embrace  all  Christians — minis- 
ters and  laymen — of  every  age.  The  words  of 
that  commission,  therefore,  are  just  as  binding 
upon  Christians  of  the  present  day  as  they  were 
upon  those  who  heard  them  fall  from  the  lips  of 
Christ  himself  Indeed,  unless  we  so  interpret 
that  language,  we  cannot,  at  this  period,  possibly 
claim  the  promise,  "Lo,  I  am  with  you  alwa}', 
even  to  the  end  of  the  world."  If,  therefore,  we 
would  confine  the  command  to  the  apostolic  age, 
we  must,  of  necessity,-  confine  the  promise  to  the 
same  period.  But  every  one  capable  of  under- 
standing the  import  of  language  knows  that  such 
an  interpretation  which  would  thus  limit  the  lan- 
guage referred  to  is  not  only  unnatural  but  ab- 
surd. Neither  the  command  nor  the  promise  was 
local  or  temporary;  but  both  are  the  vords  of  a 
King  who  "cannot  die;  and  they  are  addressed, 
by  the  highest  authority,  to  each  one  of  his  sub- 
jects." True,  there  are  many  more  now  than 
then  who  are  tkus  addressed;  but  numbers  can- 
not diminish  or  dilute  our  obligations.  On  the 
contrary,  they  increase  them;  for  numbers  permit 
organization,  and  organization  augments  jDOwer. 
There  is  nothing  selfish  in  the  Christian  relig- 


272  PULPIT   AND    PEW. 

ion.  Each  one's  share  of  the  divine  treasure  is 
not  diminished,  but  ratiier  increased  by  reason  of 
the  multitude  of  participants.  The  prize  gained 
by  one  earnest  runner  in  the  Christian  race  is  not 
therefore  lost,  but  rather  rendered  doubly  secure 
and  precious  to  all  who  may  be  induced  to  be- 
come aspirants.  In  the  pursuit  of  wealth  it  may 
be  natural,  however  culpable,  to  begrudge  another 
his  gains,  or  to  be  elated  at  our  own  acquisitions; 
for  wealth  is  a  limited  good.  One  man's  money 
cannot  be  his  and  another's  at  the  same  time; 
and  what  the  former  may  gain  the  latter  may 
lose.  In  other  words,  it  is  possible  for  one  per- 
son to  be  enriched  at  another's  expense.  The 
same  is  true  in,  reference  to  contests  for  power, 
rank,  social  position,  etc.  But  with  respect  to 
spiritual  good — the  gains  and  advantages  of  re- 
ligion— it  is  altogether  different.  The  latter  be- 
long to  that  class  of  blessings  which  possess  the 
quality  of  universality  and  inexhaustiblencss. 
The  liglit  of  the  sun  is  not  the  less  bright  to  one 
person  because  it  shines  at  the  same  moment 
upon  millions  of  others.  The  beauty  which  one 
man  beholds  "in  earth  and  sky  "  is  not  dimin- 
ished by  the  multitude  of  spectators  who  may 
share  in  his  delight.  Of  a  thousand  persons  who 
may  behold  the  same  landscape,  eftch  may  be  said 
to  possess  all  the  beauty.  In  like  manner,  those 
blessings  which  constitute  the  Christian's  portion 
may  become  the  common  possession  of  myriads, 
each  one  of  whom  may  be  said  to  possess  the 


PULPIT    AND   PEW.  273 

whole.  The  same  blessed  truths  which  fill  the 
soul  of  one  may  become  the  spiritual  nutriment 
of  all  his  fellow-beings. 

To  somt^  the  remark  may  seem  extravagant, 
but  it  is  true :  there  can  he  no  Christianity  withoiit 
a  missionary  spirit.  What  are  the  fundamental 
principles  of  Christianity?  They  are,  "Thou 
shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart, 
and  with  all  thy  soul,  and  with  all  thy  mind," 
and  "Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself." 
"On  these  two  commandments  hang  all  the  law 
and  the  prophets."  Fortunately  for  us,  too,  the 
same  "  Master  in  Israel,"  who  made  this  grand 
summary  of  moral  and  religious  obligation,  has 
not  left  us  in  doubt  as  to  "  who  is  my  neighbor." 
In  the  parable  of  the  Good  Samaritan  the  great 
lesson  is  taught  that  he  "is  my  neighbor"  whom  I 
can  benefit — the  weakest,  the  humblest,  the  most 
ignorant,  the  most  benighted;  and  the  greater 
the  want,  the  more  painful  his  state,  the  more 
helpless  and  forsaken  his  condition,  the  more  and 
more,  in  the  sense  of  the  parable,  is  he  "my 
neighbor." 

No  Church,  then,  can  prosper,  even  at  home,  un- 
less it  looks  beyond  the  horizon  of  self  A  dis- 
tinguished writer  has  said,  "The  heathen  nations 
need  missions,  but  Christian  nations  need  them 
also."  As  to  the  truth  of  this  remark  there  can 
be  no  doubt.  It  is  the  reflex  influence  of  missions 
which  the  Christian  nations  need.  No  Church,  no 
Christian,  can  prosper  spiritually  that  does  not 
18 


274  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

cnltivate  a  missionary  spirit.  He  that  watereth 
shall  be  watered  also  himself.  In  the  effort  to 
Christianize  the  heathen,  the  Church  gains  spirit- 
ual strength.  A  denomination  which  proposes  to 
simply  '-hold  its  own  "  will  soon  become  extinct; 
and  the  sooner  it  does,  the  better  it  will  be. 
Nothing  can  supply  such  a  defect — yea,  such  a 
l^alpable  violation  of  the  spirit  and.  letter  of  the 
gospel.  Wealth,  social  position,  creeds,  rituals, 
etc.,  amount  to  nothing,  if  a  missionary  spirit  be 
absent.  That  is  a  true  Church,  and  no  other  is, 
which  respects  the  command,  "  Go  ye  into  all  the 
world,  and  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature." 
To  do  so  is  to  obey  Christ;  to  refuse  is  to  despise 
his  authority.  In  a  word,  find  where  we  may  a 
Church  that  is  interested  upon  the  subject  of  mis- 
sions, and  we  will  not  fail  to  find  a  prosperous 
one.  But,  on  the  contrary,  find  where  we  may  a 
Church  which,  Gallio-like,  "cares  for  none  of 
these  things,"  and  we  will  find  a  lifeless  one — one 
which  may  have  "a  name  to  live,"  but  it  is  simply 
a  carcass.  Nor  should  we  be  the  least  astonished 
at  this;  for  the  Church  that  does  not  look  beyond 
self  is  acting  in  direct  violation  of  the  Sacred 
Scriptures.  Spiritual  death,  therefore,  is  the 
legitimate  retribution  of  such  narrow,  contracte<] 
views  and  plans.  If  we  ^could  succeed  we  must  do 
Chrisfs  work  in  Christ's  way. 

Finally,  upon  this  point,  the  blessed  Saviour 
has  made  it  the  imperative  dut}'-  of  his  followers 
to  engage  in  this  work.     No  one  can  read  the  New 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  275 

Testament  without  coining  to  the  conclusion  that 
"the  Captain  of  our  Salvation"  relies  upon  the 
grand  arm^^  composing  his  Church  for  the  con- 
quest of  a  world  in  revolt.  To  enable  it  to  per- 
form the  work  assigned  it,  he  has  furnished  it 
with  all  the  spiritual  weapons  it  needs.  Being  it- 
self a  monument  of  the  power  and  efficiency  of 
Divine  truth,  it  is  made  its  duty  and  privilege  to 
em^^loy  the  same  instrumentality  for  the  evangel- 
ization of  the  world.  To  it  Christ  has  committed 
the  sacred  treasure;  and,  in  so  doing,  he  has  re- 
quired it  to  disburse  the  invaluable  blessing  for 
the  benefit  of  the  whole  human  race.  As  long, 
therefore,  as  there  is  one  unsaved  sinner — no  dif- 
ference where  he  is,  whether  in  Christian  or 
heathen  lands — the  Church  can  never  feel  that  its 
work  is  done — that  its  mission  is  accomplished. 
In  its  hands  is  placed  the  lever  that  is  to  lift  the 
groaning  millions  from  degradation  and  sorrow, 
and  make  them  "heirs  of  God  and  joint  heirs 
with  Christ."  Thus  furnished  and  endowed,  it  is 
to  go  forth  into  every  clime — "on  the  land  and  on 
the  sea" — through  the  whole  extent  of  this  out- 
cast globe — calling  upon  its  guilty  inhabitants  "  to 
behold  the  Lamb  of  Cod  which  taketh  away  the 
sin  of  the  world."  Its  mission  is  to  the  human 
race;  its  tidings  are  the  wonders  of  Calvary;  its 
object,  the  moral  emancipation  of  a  world.  It  is 
with  this  view  that  the  Church  has  been  selected 
as  the  receptacle  of  light  from  heaven — the  radiat- 
ing   center    of   moral    influence — the    reservoir 


276  PULPIT    AND    PEW. 

whence  the  waters  of  mercy  poured  down  from 
their  celestial  fountain,  are  to  flow  out  in  millions 
of  divergent  streams,  to  purify  and  save  the  sons 
and  daughters  of  apostate  Adam.  Our  blessed 
Lord  has  pronounced  upon  this  duty  his  own  au- 
thoritative decision,  in  words  so  direct  and  ex- 
plicit that  no  sophistr}^  can  evade  their  force  or 
question  theii*  import.  He  is  the  King  of  Zion, 
and  the  Sovereign  of  conscience — a  Saviour  not 
only  to  be  trusted  but  obeyed.  His  will  is  law; 
and,  as  a  declaration  of  that  will,  he  has  said, 
*  'Go  ye  into  all  the  world  and  preach  the  gospel 
to  every  creature."  That  command  has  not  been 
revoked  It  is  still  the  unrepealed  and  immutable 
statute  of  the  kingdom.  Nor  will  it  ever  be  re- 
voked or  superseded,  until  the  most  remote 
dwellers  on  the  globe  are  made  to  feel  its  power. 
This  is  his  last  and  highest  precept — the  universal, 
ever-binding  enactment  which  he  has  left  as  the 
director}^  of  his  people,  in  all  conditions  and  for 
all  time.  ISTor  can  they  prove  unfaithful  to  it 
without  frustrating  the  chief  end  of  their  calling, 
and  increasing  the  fearful  guilt  of  treason  to  their 
Lord  and  Master.  True,  the  blessed  Saviour,  as 
"all  power  in  heaven  and  on  earth"  is  his,  might 
have  made  a  different  provision  for  propagating 
his  gospel.  He  might  have  given  a  complete 
Eible  in  every  language  and  tongue;  and  he 
might  have  sent  his  holy  angels  to  proclaim  it. 
But  it  is  presumption  in  the  highest  degree  to 
stop  and  consider  what  he  might  have  done;  the 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  277 

question  which  concerns  us  is,  what  has  he  done — 
what  is  his  plan  for  disseminating  his  religion? 
With  the  Bible  in  our  hands,  this  question  is 
easily  ansAvered:  his  people  are  to  do  that  work. 
Apart  from  this  there  is  no  agency  in  the  universe 
whose  business  it  is  to  make  known  the  grand 
scheme  of  redemption.  If,  then,  the  Church  fails 
to  sow  the  seed,  to  deposit  "the  leaven  in  the 
lump,"  that  seed  will  never  germinate,  the  lump 
will  never  be  quickened. 

Who,  then,  can  estimate  the  consequences  of 
fidelity  or  neglect  in  the  discharge  of  the  mo- 
mentous trust  committed  to  the  Church?  What 
grand  conquests  could  be  made  by  the  "Zion  of 
our  God"  if  its  ministers  and  members  would,  in 
good  faith,  recognize  and  meet  the  obligations 
which  are  upon  them  in  this  particular!  The 
opportunities  now  offered  for  the  accomplishment 
of  this  work  never  existed  before.  Never,  not 
even  in  the  apostolic  age,  has  the  Church  had  ac- 
cess to  so  many  and  such  efficient  agencies  for 
publishing  the  gospel  to  the  world.  Its  mission- 
aries may  traverse  every  continent,  and  gain  ac- 
cess to  almost  every  island  of  the  sea.  Most  of 
the  languages  of  the  globe  have  been  reduced  to 
writing,  and  the  press  affords  the  means  of  mul- 
tiplying indefinitely  copies  of  the  word  of  life — 
'•the  sword  of  the  Spirit."  Literature,  scienpe, 
commerce,  and  emigration  are  all  lending  their 
aid  to  disseminate  the  religion  of  the  Bible.  The 
prophetic  ''handful    of  corn"   has    already  been 


278  PULPIT   AND    PEW. 

planted  on  the  tops  of  the  mountains  whose  fruit 
is  to  "shake  like  Lebanon."  The  God  of  mis- 
sions is  shaking  the  nations.  He  on  whoso 
vesture  is  written  King  of  kings  and  Lord  of 
lords,"  now  rallies  his  Church  for  the  conquest  of 
the  world;  and  on  his  banner  is  inscribed,  in 
characters  of  blood,  "All  power  is  given  unto  me 
in  heaven  and  on  earth;  and  lo,  I  am  with  you 
alway,  even  to  the  end  of  the  world."  In  what 
position  do  we  personally  stand  in  reference  to 
this  important,  this  delightful  duty?  As  mem- 
bers of  the  great  Christian  family,  each  one  of  us 
has  a  work  to  do.  Are  we  devoting  to  that  work 
our  time  and  talents — yea,  the  whole  active  energy 
of  our  ransomed  nature?  Are  we  occupying  that 
high  ground  of  religious  consistency  and  personal 
holiness  which  will  best  fit  us  for  its  successful 
l)rosecution?  Only  so  far  as  we  thus  live,  are  we 
meeting  the  solemn  duties  of  our  profession.  If 
indifferent  and  unfaithful  here,  we  are  but  cum- 
berers  in  the  vineyard  of  the  Lord — salt  that  has 
lost  its  savor — fountains  whose  waters  are  pois- 
oned. Let  us,  then,  awake  to  the  glory  of  Christ, 
and  to  the  wants  of  a  perishing  world.  The  war- 
fare in  which  we  are  engaged  is  not  an  uncertain 
one.  It  may  be  a  severe  and  a  prolonged  one; 
but  victory  is  sure.  "The  kingdoms  of  this 
world  shall  become  the  kingdoms  of  our  Lord  and 
of  his  Christ." 


PULPIT    AND    PEW.  279 

The  foregoing  closes  what  Ave  have  to  say  to 
the  membership;  and  in  concluding  this  little 
volume,  we  have  a  brief  word  of  exhortation  to 
both  classes — preachers  and  people;  and  the 
author  embraces  himself  as  being  one  of  the 
number  most  needing  the  admonition  which  is 
given. 

There  is  a  day  coming  in  which  "  God  shall 
bring  every  work  into  judgment" — a  day  in 
which  the  secrets  of  every  life,  whether  good  or 
evil,  will  be  disclosed — a  day  in  which  all  that  has 
been  done,  and  all  that  has  been  neglected,  will 
be  brought  to  light;  and  everyone  shall  be  re- 
warded "  according  to  his  works."  Pear  brethren 
in  Christ  Jesus,  are  we  ready  for  that  solemn 
ordeal?  Have  we  been  as  faithful  as  we  should 
have  been?  Have  we  no  desire  to  add  another 
star  to  our  crown  of  rejoicing?  Have  we  no  dis- 
position to  re-consecrate  ourselves  to  God  and  to 
his  service?  May  the  Spirit  of  all  grace  rebaptize 
all  of  our  hearts,  and  may  each  one  of  us  heed 
the  words  of  the  sacred  poet: 

"Be  in  earnest,  Christian  worker, 
In  your  life  of  faith  and  love ; 
Jesus  calls  you  to  his  service — 
Calls  you  from  his  throne  above. 

"Be  in  earnest,  0  my  brother, 
In  the  work  of  winning  souls ; 
Go  and  bring  the  lost  to  Jesus, 
"^  Bring  them  to  hft  gracious  folds. 


